Castle : Battle of Wills
by bevhardy
Summary: Castle has writers block. Kate is in New York with Demming. For castle however fate is on his side because although Beckett came to The Hamptons to finally end their working relationship for good, a series of strange events forces them to work together.
1. Chapter 1: Writer's Block

It was hot: so incredibly hot! And in the darkness he could feel that her skin was also hot against his. Together their bodies were creating red-hot steam: sliding, entwining, writhing against each other as they entangled themselves in the bed sheets. She was all limbs and curves and satin soft skin wrapped around him, sliding under him, rolling on top of him, demanding everything he had more than wanted to give. Then when she put her lips to his ear and he could hear the distinctive sound of her voice he knew it was her and the realisation sent his heart thundering with all the more excitement.

"Rook," she groaned. Okay it was the wrong name but he really wasn't that bothered about the details just then. "More…more now!" Her warm, intimate breath in his ear sent shudders through his body; her demands were driving him to breaking point!

And then it happened. It was the same every time. It began with the faint sound of piano music rising up somewhere into his consciousness. It was a cruel and mocking sound and about the only thing that could have stopped him at that point from fulfilling his ultimate fantasy. He closed his eyes and prayed for it to stop. It just got louder until finally he heard the incredibly annoying voice of his mother singing loudly,

"I'm just a gal who can't say no,  
I'm in a terrible fix!  
I always say "come on, let's go!"  
Just when I orta say nix..."

Even before he opened his eyes he knew what he would see, he'd seen it every time before: his mother flinging her arms in the air, twirling around the room in a red off the shoulder sequined dress.

"Mother!" he exclaimed in frustration, glancing down into the startled face of the woman underneath him and back at his mother.

She twirled around a little too suddenly to focus on her son and stumbled slightly before recovering her balance.

"Hey there kiddos, don't mind me. I'm just showing Burt here how we did it at The Palace. Hit it Burt," she said, pointing to the man sitting at the piano in the corner of the room. "One, two, three, four! I'm just a gal who can't say no…"

Damn it! Not again! He looked down and she'd gone, no more mind shatteringly sexy woman in his arms.

"Mother!" he shouted out again angrily as he came back to reality with a jolt, sitting bolt upright in bed.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hot damp hair. "Another Beckett dream," he groaned, relaxing back against the pillows.

The dreams had started with a vengeance when he had contemplated the sex scene of 'Heatwave', in fact they had very much contributed to it. The only problem he had had was how to cool it down enough for publication! But since he had left New York for his beach house in The Hamptons the dreams had taken on a bizarre twist. They were by no means any less steamy as far as 'the woman' was concerned (he had taken to think of her as 'the woman' as it was unclear who she really was, Nikki Heat or… okay, who had he been kidding?) but what the hell was the appearance of his mother all about?

Perhaps it was his subconscious telling him that a physical relationship between himself and Beckett, like the one he had described in his first book between Rook and Nikki, would be wrong, or at least was doomed never to happen. He was quite literally dreaming as far as that was concerned. But what a dream! Well, the first part anyway….Maybe if he laid back and fell asleep again he could pick up from the good part? Nah, he'd tried that before: it never worked. He gave up, threw the bed covers back and hauled himself out of bed.

He padded sleepily and somewhat sulkily across the polished hardwood floor of the master bedroom, across the hallway and down the curved staircase where he headed straight through the entrance hall to the open plan kitchen area with connecting family living room. This was the place where they had hung out most when Alexis was younger, the room was so light and airy as the sun always streamed in through the patio door windows which ran across the whole thirty metre stretch of the room, from kitchen, to eating area, to living room. The décor also gave the impression of light and space: the kitchen units and breakfast bar were white, the kitchen table was glass topped and the chairs cream, the rugs in the lounge were cream, as were the two huge sofas, and the whole room was designed to make the most of the fantastic view of the sand and sea beyond it. Castle made for the huge stainless steel Viking refrigerator complete with iced water dispenser and dispensed himself a long, ice cold glass of water. The heat of the midday sun had penetrated every patio window door, of which there were many in the house, and built to fever pitch whilst Castle had been sleeping.

He had purposely closed every window and resisted turning on the AC the night before in a desperate attempt at finding inspiration for his second book in the 'Nikki Heat' series. The first time he had done this it was more for a joke than anything else, but to his amazement the swelter of the bedroom had evoked vivid dreams and images of one sultry female New York cop involved in wild and electrifying liaisons with one irresistibly handsome writer. He had found his stimulus! It was so fitting; heat had inspired him to write about 'Heat' and he had completed a further twelve pages the following morning. That was all very well at the time but it wasn't long before writers block came back to haunt him with a vengeance. He sighed and slumped back against one of the stools at the breakfast bar, taking another gulp of water and running an agitated hand through his damp hair.

He had known why he couldn't write, although he hated admitting it to himself: there was no substitute for the real thing. How ironic, he had left New York for the Hamptons to escape the distractions of the NYPD in order to finish writing his book and yet by doing so he had only made the whole process that much harder. She wasn't there and it was now plainly obvious that Kate Beckett was his muse, his source of creativity, without which he was left padding around his huge luxury beach house alone, frustrated and utterly lacking in inspiration!

He stood up and began pacing in front of the windows, glancing outside as he had done so often over the last month as if the view would provide him with some much needed inspiration. The truth of the matter was that the best of his writing had emerged when he had focused on the relationship between Rook and Nikki, however now for some reason this had become a stumbling block because he couldn't see how to move their relationship forward and this had prevented him from developing the rest of the plot too. So now he was well and truly stuck because his pride wouldn't allow him to go back to the NYPD before the end of the summer and besides, he didn't really relish having to face Beckett and Demming smooching in the office every chance they got; he'd had a gut full of that. His pride had even prompted him to persuade Gina to join him for the summer, okay clearly a ridiculous mistake but at least he had appeared not to be affected by the fact that Beckett had turned him down when he'd initially invited her. Why would she do that anyway? I mean, who in their right mind would turn down an invitation to a luxury beach house from a famous author, and one that she had been an avid fan of too? Things weren't going his way as far as Beckett was concerned and he didn't like it, not one bit! He wasn't used to being turned down, brushed aside for some other guy. That's not how it usually went for him. And now, just when he'd met someone who he felt excited about, someone who really interested him, he'd lost it. The famous Castle charm had gone the same way as his writing: down the pan! He was all washed up, it was the end of his career, the end of his love life the end of…

Just when he was about to drown in his own self pity he was startled to hear the front doorbell echo through the house. Who could that be? For a moment his spirits lifted slightly until a thought hit him. It had to be his bloodsucking ex wife come back to demand the last drop of his soul! Who else could it be? No one else had come around to see him in months since Gina had left him to his own devices, but not before issuing implicit instructions to all his Hampton friends to give him 'space' to finish his overdue book. He stomped into the entrance hall, determined not to let Gina get the better of him, and yanked open the front door only to be utterly astounded by the visitor on his doorstep. His heart thundered; it was Beckett.


	2. Chapter 2: Hidden Agenda

Castle stood semi naked, looking ruffled and bewildered in the doorway.

"Beckett?" he said lamely, stating the obvious.

"Castle," she replied with polite formality before her eyes were drawn downwards of their own accord to his boxer shorts and back to his face with surprise. "Did I get you up?" she asked before thinking and then cringed at the double meaning in her words which became twice as disconcerting when Castle glanced down in panic.

Ooops, Beckett dreams always took a while to wear off!

"Err," he held a hand to his head as if puzzling out how to solve this kind of dilemma, "One minute," he said, shutting the door in desperation and biting his fist. He didn't know whether he felt embarrassed or excited. Anyway, no time to dwell on that. He sprung into action and bolted to the stairs, taking two at a time before sprinting into his bedroom and heading straight for the adjoining bathroom. Reaching behind the door for his robe which he hung on a hook, he grabbed the garment and dashed back to the hallway. Before he made it out of the bedroom however he glanced down in horror at the robe in his hand, black lace and pink ribbon? Gina's robe! He ran back to the bathroom in panic, scanning the room for his robe. He finally found it on the tiled floor, next to the bath, and dived for it, throwing Gina's robe over his shoulder in the process.

At last he could get back to Beckett. He turned but something made him pause and glance back over his shoulder. Where had Gina's robe gone? His eyes homed in on the only open window in the house. No, it could have, could it? He ran to the window and looked down just in time to see the robe flutter into the swimming pool below. Great! Oh well, no time. He charged back down the stairs, pulling his robe on in the process and running a hand through his hair a few times. At the door he paused before opening it and took in a deep breath. Then he leant casually against the door frame as if he didn't have a care in the world and reopened the door.

Beckett looked highly amused.

"Is it safe to come in now?" she said, barely holding back her laughter.

Castle grinned, opening the door wider and gesturing for her to enter. "Perfectly."

As Beckett stepped into the huge, high ceilinged entrance hall of Castle's beach house she tried not to be impressed. She had had a similar feeling of childish excitement when she had pulled up into the driveway. It looked magnificent from the outside, God only knew what it would be like inside, but what difference did it make to her? She had already felt the pull of chemistry between them again and she'd only been there for ten minutes but she had to remember why she was there, what she wanted. She had to keep that foremost in her head and not be seduced by awe inspiring, luxury beach houses or their owners.

She strode past Castle, briefcase in hand, into the hall with all the confidence of someone on a mission who knew what they wanted and how to get it. Castle watched her walk past and caught the unmistakeable waft of her perfume, reminding his senses that Beckett was in the room! His heart made a small leap of excitement. As he watched her, words popped into his head which quickly formed into a few sentences.

_She strode past Rook with that sensual saunter. The sway of her hips looked good in the pair of tight fitting jeans that clung lovingly to her rear. He itched to run his hand over it, feel it's tautness._

God that was good; she was inspiring him already! She turned suddenly to face him and he tightened the belt of his robe. His mind was working overtime!

"Castle?" she questioned.

"Hmm," he replied, his mind still on her rear. She'd suddenly realised that she didn't know where she was going and since Castle seemed to be on another planet she looked purposely around at the multitude of doors and corridors and back at Castle questioningly. He snapped abruptly out of his daydream. "Ohhh, this way," he said, leading her into the Kitchen/lounge area.

"You haven't been answering your phone," she pointed out, entering the kitchen, heading straight for the table and placing her briefcase on it.

Wow, she'd been trying to contact him after all. He'd kind of hoped she would and he'd been disappointed when he'd heard nothing from her.

"There's a problem with the line," he explained, glancing towards the telephone on the Kitchen counter top.

"And your cell?" she questioned.

"No coverage," he shrugged.

"Well Montgomery's been trying to contact you," she told him.

He tried to hide the disappointment by an expression of surprise. "We got another case?" he asked hopefully.

"Not quite," she replied, delving into her briefcase and pulling out a sheet of paper and a pen. "Since he couldn't reach you he's asked me to get you to sign this," she said, pushing the paper across the table towards him and holding out the pen.

Castle frowned in confusion and approached the table, glancing down at the paper. "What is it?"

"It's a contract relieving you of any obligations towards the precinct," she said simply. She had thought carefully about how to phrase that.

His head shot up. What the hell was this all about? Disappointment quickly developed into annoyance.

"You mean relieving _you_ of _your_ obligations towards _me_."

She bristled at that. "Hey listen Castle," she came back with anger, "I have _no _obligations towards you," she stressed.

He shrugged. "The precinct then." She was splitting hairs.

"I fail to see how the precinct is obligated towards you either," she pointed out.

Castle folded his arms in front of himself and stared at Beckett for a few moments before speaking, trying to figure her out. "We had an agreement. It seems to have benefitted us both. Why would you want to end that?"

She'd hoped that he wouldn't want to go into this. She sighed. "Because you're a writer and I'm a cop. Don't you think it's time that we got back to our jobs?"

"As far as I can see we've been doing that. You've been solving murders and I've been writing," he smiled, hiding his inner turmoil.

She sighed again. "No, I mean…I mean…" She faltered.

"What _do_ you mean?" he cut in, scrutinising her face.

She ran a nervous hand through her hair. She didn't want to give too much away; she needed to win this battle but she really didn't relish him finding out why, uncovering all her ridiculous yearnings, and he was very observant. She would have to tread carefully.

"Look, the guys have been brooding away since you've left and they've lost their buddy. It's hard to get work out of them. You've come in, shaken the whole order of things up and left. I need order in my team and stability. You're…" she tried to think of the right word, "Unstable," she finally said for want of a better word.

He thought for a moment. "I'll come back," he said simply.

She put a hand on her hip. "What? And then leave again?"

"No. I'll come back for good," he replied.

"For good?" she frowned, searching his eyes, trying to find a way to break him. "Why would you want to do that?"

"Why would I not?" he countered.

"Because as you said, you need time to write," she replied.

"Yeah well turns out I'd be better writing back at the precinct. I need the ideas."

"Oh come on Castle, you must have got enough now to write fifty books!" she said in desperation, quoting Esposito.

She was trying to get him out just because he'd left for the summer and he wasn't going to let that happen. He hadn't wanted to leave anyway; he'd only done it because of Demming but if he had to put up with them two together to give him time to work on Beckett then that's what he would do.

He played his trump card. "You said that you've loved working with me."

He r eyes flitted from his. "I didn't say that exactly."

He smiled. "Sure you did right before you asked me to come back in the fall." He watched her intently, homing in on any reaction he saw.

"I didn't say that either, you're twisting my words." She began to feel trapped and awkward by the intense way he was looking at her. He could see her weakness and wanted more. He suddenly felt an intense need to hear her admit something.

"So the guys missed me then, what about you?" he asked in a soft voice.

Her heart thudded at his question. She shrugged, attempting to look casual but fiddled with the pen top nervously. "I've been busy," she replied, avoiding the question.

"So you haven't missed me then?" he pushed.

She frowned. "Not really," she lied.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "So in the whole of the last two months are you telling me that you haven't thought about me once?"

She felt trapped. "Castle, will you just sign the contract so that you can get back to being a writer and I can get back to being a cop!" she exclaimed with exasperation, holding then pen out for him again.

He looked at it and contemplated something. If she truly wanted him out of her life then he would sign it but she wasn't as good as she thought at hiding her emotions. He found it easy to read them in her face. He'd done it on the very first day he had met her when he had pretty much summed up her life and he'd seen the raw emotion right there.

"Okay," he said to her amazement, taking the pen suddenly from her and bending over the contract. He placed the nib over the dotted line and made a pretence of reading the details. She watched the nib hovering over the contract and suddenly felt cold fear grasp her. She took a breath to say something as she felt the panic take over but what could she say? She'd gone this far. A frown flickered across her brow, a telling Beckett sign of pain and confusion. Her eyes flicked from the contract up towards Castle and she suddenly couldn't breathe: he was watching her.


	3. Chapter 3: You'll Never Believe This!

"What?" Beckett said defensively as Castle grinned at her. Why was he looking at her like that? He paused for a moment with that self satisfied smile, just searching her eyes, before abruptly throwing the pen down and standing upright.

"I was thinking… why don't you stay for a while? I mean it's practically the weekend. You could stay for a few days." He threw an arm around her shoulder and turned her, gesturing to the view outside. "We could hit the beach."

No! No! No! She wasn't going to be seduced by all of this, by him! She was a tough New York homicide detective. She didn't have time for beach houses and weekends away. And besides, Castle was a playboy who collected women and got rid of them when he got bored; she wasn't going to be a collectable!

Beckett had gone quiet. Maybe she was considering it? He risked a sideways glance but she was frowning, and it wasn't a 'should I or should I not,' kind of frown, more like a 'I'm losing the battle and if he doesn't sign that contract soon I'll shoot him dead' kind of frown. The silence stretched on for a few more nail biting seconds until she broke it with a question that he hadn't anticipated.

"Castle," she began.

"Yes?" he replied.

"What is that floating in your pool?"

Opps! He squinted his eyes as if straining to see.

"Leaves?" he suggested.

"No Castle, it's not leaves!"

"It looks like leaves."

She turned to him incredulously. "It's black and lacy!"

He turned to look again. "It is?"

She sighed. How many women had he got on the go now?

"Yes, but it does begin with 'L'," she said, too calmly for his liking. It was the calm before the storm.

"It does?"

"Yes. 'L' for lingerie!" she exclaimed, whacking him in the stomach. He flinched. "What" she emphasised, "is women's lingerie doing floating in your pool?"

She watched as Castle frantically scanned his brain, trying to come up with a good answer.

"Well," he pointed to her, "it's funny you should ask…"

Oh this excuse she was going to love to hear!

"… the woman who lives next door," he put a hand to his chin, contemplating how to continue, "well she hangs out her washing and sometimes…" Beckett took a good look outside. She couldn't even see the house next door it was so far away. She tutted and turned, walking back to the dreaded contract. He followed, "but it probably wasn't that. More likely to be my cleaning lady. She sometimes brings her washing over and…" This was never going to work. He resorted to desperate measures: the truth. "Ok, ill tell you the truth. You'll never believe this but…"

She reached the table, picked up the pen and turned, holding it out to him. "You're right; I _will_ never believe it. Now sign!"

"It's Gina's robe," he admitted, "and when I ran upstairs to get my robe I picked up hers by mistake and threw it, and well… it… floated out of the window." He finished in a rush, quite pleased with himself for being so truthful.

She stared at him for a few seconds before bursting into laughter. A frown of confusion flickered over his face.

"Oh that's a good one! It 'floated' out of the window," she quoted him, laughing. "Do you really expect me to believe that?"

He thought for a second and then nodded. "Well…yes actually… because it really did!"

"Right. Just magically 'floated," she chuckled.

"Well, you see it was wispy," he began by means of an explanation.

"Wispy," she echoed, bursting into laughter again.

"And the wind caught hold of it and it… sailed away."

She nodded as if trying to take him seriously but barely holding in her laughter. "Sailed eh, like a yacht." She couldn't hold it in.

"Oh very funny. But it really did sail…I mean float."

When her laughter finally faded, she shook her head at him in pity. He was beyond help.

"As entertaining as this all is, I have to get back to the precinct so…" she slipped the pen into his hand "…sign."

"Ah come on!" he held his hands out to her in appeal. "Just because of some lousy lingerie in the pool? Why does that mean I have to sign?"

She was on the verge of laughing again but no, she had to get through to him.

"No Castle, it's not just that. Because you see, in between the important tasks of writing fiction, beach parties, signing of women's ….whatever it is you sign… and the endless stream of females in and out of your life, I seriously doubt that you have enough time for the less important things like…oh I don't know, finding murderers!"

"Ah ha!" he said suddenly as if catching her out. She looked taken aback for a second. "So that's it. You're judging me and my lifestyle on what you believe to be true, not on what you know." He tutted and shook the pen at her. "Whatever happened to evidence and hard facts?" She took a breath to interrupt but he talked over her quite adamantly. "The truth is that you really don't know me well enough to presuppose. I mean sure, we have this work thing going on," he pointed between himself and her, "but outside of the office, what do we really know about each other? How much non work related time have we actually spent together for you to make judgements like that?"

A frown wrinkled her brow as if he may have made a point there that she hadn't been prepared for.

He was on to something. He'd take full advantage of it.

"I tell you what," he said, moving to her, putting an arm around her waist and placing the pen back on the contract, "I'll do you a deal."

She looked sideways at him suspiciously. "What?"

"You stay here for a couple of days and we can spend some time together and then afterwards, if you still think I'm that shallow then…" he paused, "I'll sign your contract."

Her eyes widened with surprise…and the narrowed with suspicion. No, she wouldn't buy it; it wasn't going to happen. She wasn't going to spend time getting to know him more only to be let down by him again. No, she'd made her mind up: two long months of hearing nothing from him and staring at the empty chair beside her desk had made her mind up for her.

She shook her head slowly. "Sorry Castle, some of us have work to get back to," she said with what seemed like almost a hint of regret.

He sighed. He really thought he'd got her on that last idea. Okay, there had been one thing however bugging him at the back of his mind, something that didn't quite fit, but he needed more time to figure it out.

"Alright, but I need ten minutes to think this through." He announced. She frowned. "Ten minutes Beckett, before I put my signature to that legally binding contract," he reasoned, pointing to the paper on the table.

She rolled her eyes but nodded. He'd better sign it afterwards though.

He began to pace around the kitchen table, apparently deep in thought while she watched him with impatience. She stood, looking at her watch every few seconds: ten minutes seemed like it would last forever! She groaned and strode towards the window, shrugging her leather jacket off as she did so and draping it over a chair.

"Damn it's hot in here! Will you hurry up and sign that contract because I'm not going back to Montgomery without it signed," she declared, hoping the mention of Montgomery would prompt him.

He stopped pacing suddenly and swung around. She was wrong, it was what she'd just said that had made him realise something that might mean he _wouldn't _have to sign away his connection with the NYPD. She was struggling with the catch on the window, it always stuck. Great, the perfect opportunity. He moved around the table to her briefcase and peered inside. Looks like he could be right. His hand was just dipping into it however when she turned again. He dropped his hand but stood with his back to the briefcase, facing her.

"Well?" She folded her arms.

"Well….I don't know," he said slowly.

"Don't know what?" He was playing games now but she was running out of patience.

He put a hand to his mouth in a thoughtful way. "I'm just not sure if…"

She rolled her eyes. "If?" she prompted.

"If…"

And before she knew what was happening he had reached into her briefcase behind his back, pulled out the paper and was holding it up in the air in triumph.

"If I'd rather sign contract number two!"

Her mouth fell open in shock as her eyes homed in on the paper possessively. "Oooh you! Give me that back!"

He held up a finger to her, shaking his head. "Let me just take a look," he said, skim reading the page as he backed away from her. "Ah, an alternative contract, I thought as much."

"Castle!" she exclaimed, advancing around the table to him. He continued to back away.

"Yes, this one is much better. A 'guaranteed two year contract allowing said Mr Richard Castle to continue assisting Detective Katherine Beckett with her investigations.'" He peered over the contract at her. " Two years no less!"

She growled and lunged across the table for the paper in his hand. He whisked it away and rushed into the living room area. She followed in hot pursuit shouting,

"Damn it Castle, you sign that contract and you won't have another two years left to fulfil it!"

"Oooh I love it when you get physical," he laughed as she chased him around the sofa, eventually catching him and grabbing the contract whilst holding his arm behind his back. She might have the contract in her hand but he wasn't going to let go; shed have to rip it to get it away from him!

"Let go of the contract Castle," she warned.

He glanced back at her. "Err…no."

She pulled, but he pulled back and she heard the paper beginning to tear. Damn it, she'd have to let go but no matter, she could overpower him easily.

As soon as he felt Beckett release her hold, he twisted away from her and ran around the other side of the sofa again, glancing around the room for the nearest writing implement.

She stood with her hands on her hips. "This is ridiculous. You do know that I can floor you and have you helpless in seconds," she warned.

His face lit up. "Oooh, I guess that means you'll be on top!"

She rolled her eyes and then suddenly caught him off guard, bolting around the sofa and lunging at him. He hadn't expected her to be quite so energetic or physical and in a moment of pure instinct he whipped his arm around her waist and rolled over the back of the sofa, taking her with him. She landed smack on the cushions and he landed smack on top of her! Then they both froze.

He didn't know what had possessed him to do that but he had the sudden feeling that a boundary had been crossed and he wasn't sure how to proceed. Both Beckett and himself were breathing heavily from their exertions but gradually as the moments passed their breathing slowed and at that point the whole world seemed to slow with them. He searched her eyes for some kind of signal but she simply stared back at him, so silent and still, with an expression he couldn't quite read: one he'd never seen on her before. There was that furrow in her brow of uncertainty and confusion but beneath that was something like shock, surprise and maybe even a hint of realisation. Those underlying indicators sent a sudden shot of excitement coursing though his veins and all at once he was doubly aware of their close proximity: his leg between her thigh, her belly pressed flat against his, but more importantly, he realised where one of his hands had found itself, underneath her on the rounded firmness of her rear. Maybe it was fate; he'd thought about it so may times, even just less than an hour ago! Was this really happening? Was that really _his_ hand there? He curved his fingers slightly just to make sure and yes, it was his hand and yes, it was as fleshy yet firm as he'd thought it might be. Damn, he was aroused!

His eyes shot to hers then when he felt her move slightly and saw her head lifting to his. She paused, her mouth so close to his he could feel her breath against his lips. Oh Lord, this was it!

"Castle," she whispered.

"Hmm," he responded, tingling from head to foot.

"Would you mind removing your hand?" she asked.

He hadn't expected that. That's not how it was supposed to go.

"Or ill break it!" she added, pushing him away from her and rolling off the sofa.

He went to move with her to a standing position but found himself suddenly unable to move past a kneel. He yanked at his left arm but found that it was well and truly stuck, locked to part of the sofa arm with handcuffs! The cunning woman, she'd cuffed him!

He looked up at her helplessly.

"Ha!" she exclaimed with triumph. "You can stay there until you sign this," she said, on her way to the table and returning with the original contract. He noted though that as she stood over him, holding the contract, there was a definite tremble of her hand and shake of the paper.

He smiled. "Good, I love sex games. I could stay here all day playing with you."

She crossed her arms. "Good, you're going to have to, because you're not going anywhere until you've signed."

"You know what I think," he said in a whisper.

"No, what do you think?" she whispered back.

"I think the lady protests too much," he grinned knowingly.

She tutted but then nearly jumped out of her skin when the front doorbell rang loudly through the house. Castle looked somewhat startled too!

"You expecting anybody?" she asked.

He shrugged. "No."

"Well, sign the contract and you can answer the door," she prompted.

"Tell you what, you answer it. I'm a little tied up at the moment," he smiled, holding up the cuffs.

"Ha, very amusing…" she began, before jumping for the second time when a loud rap on the patio doors could be heard.

Both Castle and Beckett looked up in shock to see two police inspectors standing on the patio. Finding the doors unlocked, they walked in and scanned the room with suspicion, finally focusing on castle who had had the foresight to move onto the sofa whilst hiding the cuffs.

"Mr Richard Castle?" a butch, middle aged, intimidating female cop enquired.

"Yes," he held his free hand up as if at school.

The woman flashed her badge. "Hampton Police. We'd like to ask you some questions about a possible homicide that took place in the house next door this morning."

Beckett and Castle turned to each other in shocked bewilderment and then back to the policewoman.

"A Mr Mark Moon was found, we suspect pushed to his death, on the patio below his beach house. Mark Moon, business tycoon, ring any bells?" the woman said with a patronising tone.

Mark Moon, oh no! Beckett turned to Castle with mouth agape and proceeded to whack him against his arm. He recoiled.

"What was that for?" he asked defensively.

She frowned. "You write books and people die!" she said angrily.

The police woman coughed loudly and they both turned back to her. She was staring at Castle, more specifically the handcuffs that were now on show.

"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, what have we here then?" the woman asked dubiously.

Beckett and Castle's eyes shot to each others and quickly back to the policewoman's. Beckett bit her lip. Castle cringed.

"You'll never believe this but…" they both said in unison.


	4. Chapter 4: Moments of Madness

After an excruciatingly embarrassing few minutes of Beckett producing her badge, fumbling to unfasten Castle's handcuffs, and them both attempting to convince Detective Rika Karlsdotter that it had just been a bit of a practical joke between friends, Castle somehow finally managed to appease her with an offer of some chocolate brownies and freshly brewed coffee.

Castle and Beckett sat opposite Detective Karlsdotter and her colleague Detective Tim Burt, a tall skinny young man, on the sofas in the living room, with a huge plate of chocolate brownies on the table between them. Detective Burt, as you would expect from his size, took one brownie and nibbled on it. Detective Karlsdotter on the other hand, as you would also expect from her size, took three and wolfed them down. She was a formidable looking woman and presumably needed the extra brownies to feed her muscular frame because, although quite short, she more than made up for it in breadth. She was a woman not to be messed with and the last person to mess her around looked to be Detective Burt who sat in her shadow, quite literally, and tended to startle easily when she addressed him.

"So," she began, washing down the last of her third brownie with a swig of coffee and placing the mug back on the table with a thud, "you knew this man then, this Mr Moon?"

She smiled across the room at Castle but he was more focused on an irritating smudge of chocolate at the corner of her mouth which he had hoped she would have wiped away by now.

"Err," he lifted a finger to the corner of his mouth and wiped it, hoping that she would get the hint. "No, not vey well."

"But you based your book on him," she commented, not picking up on Castle's gesture at all.

"Well, vaguely," he replied, leaning towards her slightly and pointing to her mouth. She focused on his finger before raising her eyes slowly to his and gazing. He pulled back abruptly as if being scorched by fire and watched with unease as she slowly licked the chocolate away and smiled poignantly at him. His eyes flicked to Beckett for moral support but her mind was elsewhere, already sifting through a whole multitude of possibilities which would explain the events next door. She was sitting, staring out of the patio window doors as if towards the neighbouring house in an attempt to picture the scene.

"Vaguely?" Karlsdotter questioned.

He turned his attention from Beckett back to Karlsdotter. "I knew of him. Knew his name and that he was in real estate. I made the rest up."

"Matthew Starr?" Beckett turned to Castle suddenly, throwing him a look as if to say that she wasn't impressed.

"I still think it sounds better than Mark Moon," he replied.

She looked sceptical. "Couldn't you have been a bit more original?"

"Hey, I had to get my inspiration from somewhere," he said defensively.

"What contact did you have with the deceased Mr Rick?" Karlsdotter asked.

"Not much," he reconfirmed. "I was in New York for most of the year. When I was here he threw a few parties, so did I. Occasionally we met but I was more preoccupied with my own guests. I met him a few times but that was it; we never went beyond a few handshakes and hellos." He felt that he should have been able to say more and after a moments thought added, "There was one girl though, she worked at the local bar, 'Jimmy's'" She came to some of my parties and moved next door on a few occasions when the parties clashed. She knew some of the kids that worked there for Mr Moon, you know like house staff I think."

Karlsdotter nodded and seemed to make a mental note.

"I'd like to look around next door if that's okay with you," Beckett came out with suddenly, itching to figure out more.

Karlsdotter looked dubious until Castle piped up.

"Me and Beckett here are partners," he said, putting an arm around her shoulder. Beckett glared at it. "We work for the NYPD," he said proudly. "We get the bullet vests and guns."

Karlsdotter nudged her jacket aside to reveal a fire arm of her own.

"Oh," Castle said with surprise, "you have one too."

Karlsdotter nodded and smiled. "You can come…and look next door."

Castle wasn't sure how he felt about that enthusiastic smile from Karlsdotter but he jumped up nonetheless and announced that he was going to get dressed and would be ready in five.

As he rushed upstairs again and into his bedroom to change, his mind was racing. This case could be a lifesaver, for him at least, because surely Beckett would have to stay now. That would give him time to work on her, show her that he wasn't as shallow as she thought. He had to make her see that.

Whilst dressing, he also recalled with pleasure the few moments they had shared lying so close together on the sofa. He could still feel the soft contours of her body yielding underneath him, his hand on the softest, fleshiest part! But even more exciting was the possibility that she had been affected by his nearness too. On the surface, no. But he knew that was an instinctual, defensive response from Beckett: to push him away and use her police training as a means of warding him off. But looking at the evidence more closely, ironically as she herself had taught him to do, it had taken her many heartstoppingly intense moments before she had got around to pushing him away. Okay maybe she had taken that time to cuff him and that could explain why she hadn't moved sooner but the expression on her face couldn't hide deeper emotions. He could always rely on her facial expressions to give away something of how she felt… and her jitters, the shaking hand afterwards, was unmistakable.

Moving back down the stairs he saw them waiting for him in the entrance hall and he homed in on Beckett, reading her cell phone, watching Karlsdotter and Burt, figuring out something in her head. Was she thinking about the case, that she would have to stay and solve it? She was the first to look up at him as he descended the stairs and for an instant their eyes connected, a mistake on her part perhaps as she quickly glanced away and there followed few moments when that frown crossed her face again and she fiddled with her cell phone a little more than was necessary.

Castle led his guests outside, locked the house and they moved next door to the back of the building and the pool area where Mark Moon had fallen. At the electric gate at the side of the house they paused as Karlsdotter took time with the security code. Castle stood close behind Beckett, waiting for them to enter, and as he stood there his eyes focused on the small detail of her hair, the way it clung softly to the material of her shirt just beneath the collar and how the sun caught golden and copper strands, seeming to make them glow and shimmer in the light. Then Karlsdotter and Burt had passed through the gate so Castle reached forward in front of Beckett to hold it open for her. As he leant closer that scent of her perfume teased him again, it meant that she was close, and his hand was drawn to her waist to guide her through the gate… or steady himself, or …who was he kidding, just to touch her.

Then it happened again for an instant: the world slowed down and it was as if all his senses were finely tuned to her only. He could feel the gentle curve of her body against his palm, it was unmistakably feminine, and the heat of her body seemed to radiate through the material. He could see the profile of her face as she stared at the catch of the gate at the side of her and he noticed that strange, far away expression and stillness in her that he had experienced when they had been on the sofa. For a reason he couldn't fathom it made his heart thud just a little more. Without realising it, his thumb had begun to stroke small circles over the material of her shirt. He watched it with fascination, feeling the friction between the material and skin beneath. Then his gaze returned to the side of her face and he just caught it: her eyelids drifting down and remaining closed for an instant before shooting open again. She gave her head an abrupt shake and moved forward suddenly through the gate.

As they wandered through the gardens, Castle found himself in an uncomfortable state of near arousal, being extra sensitive to every stimuli around him but more specifically, extra aware of Beckett: her every move, stance, gesture, facial expression. Being behind her wasn't helping either, especially considering where his hand had ended up when they had been on the sofa, and as they walked around the garden he seemed to be developing a fascination for that part of her body. Just as soon as he forced his eyes away from it, he found them moving back. He had to stop this and cool down!

Beckett had made a few comments as they strolled through the gardens and pool area towards the house but castle hadn't concentrated at all on what she had said. He wasn't going to be much use to her in this state, he had to focus.

Taking in the scene it became obvious that there had been one hell of a party the previous night as the entire pool area was a mess of beer bottles, glasses, half filled plates of food, and toppled over chairs etc. And then there was the blood splattered spot underneath the house where the fall had occurred.

"It's not much like the scene described in Heat Wave," Beckett commented, looking upwards. "Okay the guy fell but would the drop even have been enough to kill him?" she pondered. It was hardly the bone shattering drop from a city skyscraper that caused Starr's death. The house was only three floors high!

"If it were a true copy cat killer they would have wanted to get all the details right, as much as they could," Castle pointed out, forcing his brain to concentrate on the case.

"That would be a problem if Moon didn't happen to be in New York in a multi-storey building at the time," Burt commented.

"Then the killer would have disabled or even murdered him beforehand and staged the whole thing to make it look as close to the original murder as possible. The circumstances are nothing near similar," Castle said, glancing around.

"As it happens we've already had some results back from forensics and there is evidence of strangulation as well as substantial grazing and bruises on the arms," Karlsdotter informed them, wondering if that would be enough for them to draw the right conclusions.

"So he was strangled beforehand and dragged," Beckett summed up, with a thoughtful hand to her mouth. Karlsdotter began to realise that Beckett and Castle were quick and efficient with minimal details. Did she feel threatened by that? Not at the moment but this wasn't their jurisdiction and if they waned in, it would have to be on her terms. "But then if the crime was premeditated, say someone who wanted to copy Castle's story, they don't seem to have done much to hide the fact that it wasn't the drop that killed him." Beckett added, turning to Castle for answers.

"You're right, it doesn't fit. It's not a true copy cat killer but it _is_ someone who wants to make a point, get our attention," he responded.

"I'm assuming he fell from there," Beckett said, pointing upwards towards a bedroom balcony.

"You assumed right," Karlsdotter confirmed.

"Can we take a look?" Beckett asked.

"Sure, but there isn't much to see," Karlsdotter said, unlocking the patio door and leading them into the house.

The building was of a similar layout to Castle's house but perhaps slightly bigger and more lavishly furnished. It wasn't so much to Beckett's taste however as it seemed as if the owner was screaming out 'look at me, I'm rich' with his choice of décor. It was too overstated.

As they ascended the stairs Castle found his focus drifting again and once more his eyes took on a will of their own. Why hadn't he noticed before just how great she looked form behind? I mean of course he'd looked but… had he truly appreciated? Well now he was certainly making up for lost time! Maybe it was that he hadn't seen her for so long that now he was realising what he had previously taken for granted or… maybe it was those intensely physical moments on the sofa that had triggered off this obsession with her body he was finding himself struggling with.

Then Beckett was speaking to him, well her lips had moved so he assumed that she had said something. He nodded and agreed, hoping that agreeing was the correct response. It seemed to be. He couldn't even really remember walking through the bedroom but they must have done because they were now standing on the balcony. Damn it, he had to focus!

They stood next to each other, looking out across the garden with Karlsdotter and Burt hanging back in the bedroom. As they stood there he wondered if she was thinking anything similar to him. He doubted it however because at that point he had this insane urge to get another feel of what he'd felt on that sofa. In his mind he imagined reaching out and placing his hand there. No, no! He couldn't start thinking like that or there was a chance he might end up doing it!

He remembered going through a phase once at school during assembly time when it was extra quiet as the principal or a speaker was talking. He used to have these insane urges to stand up and shout something out. It was because everyone was so quiet and the fact that it would be such a daring thing to do that made it such an irresistible proposition. As time went by he struggled with this temptation during every assembly until one day the temptation became too much. A lecture on religious education was being given by one of the high school teachers who was focusing on the subject of belief. "What do you believe in?" he asked. It was more of a rhetorical question, meant to encourage the kids to reflect quietly. Castle on the other hand was not in a quiet, reflective mood. In a moment of madness he stood up and shouted out,

"Do you believe in rock n' roll?

Can music save your mortal soul

And can you teach me how to dance real slow?

Well, I know that you're in love with him,"

he sang, pointing from the teacher to Mrs Roberts, the school principal,

"'cause I saw you dancin' in the gym

You both kicked off your shoes

Man, I dig those rhythm and blooooooos!" he sang, playing an imaginary guitar.

Fortunately at that point one of the teachers ended the embarrassing spectacle by pointing to the kid next to him and shouting,

"Shut him up will you?"

The kid grabbed Castle by the sleeve of his shirt and dragged him back into his seat…

So… he concluded that, if he didn't get his mind off where he wanted to put his hand there was a fair chance he'd end up putting it there!

Beckett was talking again. He nodded and again she fell silent. More looking out across the garden and more thoughtful silence. He glanced behind him to see what the detectives were doing. Burt was at the far end of the bedroom, searching through some paperwork he had found on a shelf but disconcertingly Karlsdotter was watching him with a saucy grin. He smiled briefly and then it happened, Karlsdotter winked at him. His eyes widened in horror. He didn't want her; the thought repulsed him! Couldn't she see he had a thing for Beckett? It was then that he panicked and before he could stop himself he had moved his hand and…oh God, it was like school assembly all over again.

He turned back to the view and avoided looking at Beckett but he was surprised that she hadn't seemed to have moved. For one crazy moment he wondered what the possibility was that she hadn't noticed where his hand was? An eerie silence ensued until she broke it by saying, quite calmly,

"Castle,"

"Hmm," he replied, his hand growing hot on her jeans.

"What are you doing?"

After earlier that day he decided to go with the truth, well, part truth.

"Go with me on this," he whispered, "the ugly woman was winking at me." He thought it was a great, plausible response given the time he'd had to think of it.

She turned slowly to look at him in disbelief. "I don't care if a rhinoceros was winking at you, hand off, now!" she growled under her breath.

Rhinoceros wasn't far wrong!

"Spoil sport," he whispered, reluctantly dropping his hand and at the last second trying to commit to memory the feel of it there. It was possibly the last time in… well, forever he would feel it.

Beckett turned suddenly and leant to whisper in his ear. Ironically, the sensation of her warm breath and lips so close was as much of a turn on as the words she was saying were meant to be a turn off.

"Oh, and do that again once more and I'll break every bone in your body."

He wondered if sometime in the near future having every bone broken in his body would be worth another feel. Hmmm. Possibly.

"Well," she smiled at Karlsdotter and Burt. "Thank you for that. If you need any assistance from us you can contact me on this number," she said, producing a card from her handbag and passing it to Karlsdotter. Then she turned briefly to Castle before striding out of the room.

"Let's go, we need to talk."

He wondered what about? Not the damn contract again. Maybe how they were going to crack the case or maybe how they should forget the case for the afternoon and just jump into bed?

As he followed Beckett out of the room he was reminded of one time at school when the principle, Mrs Roberts, had come to find him in the rec room and summoned him back to her office. He had followed her sheepishly, not unlike he was doing now. He rather liked Mrs Roberts; she didn't look bad from behind either!


	5. Chapter 5: Repartee

"Coffee?" Castle asked as he and Beckett re-entered his house and he headed for the kitchen.

She followed, glancing at her watch. It was getting late and she really needed to head back to the city if she was going to make it there before it grew dark but she did need to talk to Castle; there was still the matter of the contract to sort out.

"Thanks, ill have a quick coffee and then I need to head back," she replied, leaning against the kitchen counter and watching as Castle made the drinks.

"Head back?" he questioned with a slight frown.

"Yes, head back to the city, you know, where I live and work Castle," she replied sarcastically.

He dropped the spoon in the coffee cup and turned to her. "But what about the case?"

"What about it?" she asked.

Castle looked as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What about it?" he echoed. "We need to solve it! You and me, find the bad guy."

"Castle, this isn't my jurisdiction. I don't work here, I can't just drop everything in New York and come here to solve this case."

"But, but…what about the story?" he blurted out.

"What story?" she asked.

"You know, every crime has a story. Don't you want to know why? Why the guy used the scene from 'Heat Wave?', why someone wanted Moon dead?"

She shrugged, feigning disinterest. She knew what he was up to, if he got her to stay for this case he'd think that they would be back working together for good but she had already made up her mind, case or no case, she had to stick to her guns. Nevertheless, on instinct she couldn't help but add,

"We don't know the sex of the murderer."

"What?"

"You said 'guy', 'why did the _guy_ use the scene from Heat Wave?' It could have been a woman," she pointed out.

Castle grinned. She wouldn't be able to resist this case.

"Sure," he said, handing her a cup of coffee and taking a seat at the breakfast bar, "it could have been but…" he sighed, "guess you'll never know if you're going back to New York."

She rolled her eyes. She had already known that she would probably want to assist with this case but for now, she didn't need to let him know that for sure.

"If," she pointed at him, "And I said, if," she stressed, "we were to work on this case…"

His smile grew.

"…I still need to go back, A, to arrange it with Montgomery B, to collect some clothes and C, you still need to sign the contract."

"You don't need to go back for me to sign the contract," he said smugly, picking up on her error and taking a sip of coffee.

She tutted. "You know what I mean. I need you to sign something but…" she sighed, "be aware that if you sign the second contract it has conditions. You won't be able to just leave on a whim when you feel like it; it's not good for the team."

She had insisted on those conditions just in case he had refused to sign the first contract and she had to resort to the second. She was certain that would deter him because, after all, it's not as if it's his job or he's getting paid for it and yet he'd be bound to the contract as if it were. Besides, a man like Castle was not going to want to be pinned down.

"I'll bear that in mind," he replied, not at all put off but equally not willing to show his hand to her yet. He'd work this case with her and then… let's face it, he was going to sign the second contract. How could he not? There was something between them that hadn't come to fruition yet and he just couldn't give up on it, even if for some reason she was willing to. But even that afternoon, when she had come determined to break up their working relationship, he had sensed that she was struggling to do it. "So," he began with a knowing smile, "Montgomery shouldn't have any problems with you staying here for a while, considering that he's given you time off."

She looked up from her coffee cup with a frown. "Time off?"

She was being evasive.

"Sure," he went on to test out his theory. "I mean, if he wanted me to sign a contract he wouldn't send out his best investigator all this way."

Her frown deepened but she failed to answer him, taking another sip of her coffee instead. He noted her reaction and continued,

"Let's see…" He pictured the scenario, "I leave for the Hamptons and you've lost your right hand man, your investigation buddy. You pine for me…"

Her head shot up and she laughed loudly. "Pine? I don't think so."

"Sure, you pine away because you miss my charm and the witty repartee we so often shared."

She rolled her eyes. He continued.

"You throw yourself into your work, staying late most nights and Montgomery can see how it's affecting you."

She stared at him, willing herself not to show any reaction to his words because, annoyingly enough, most of them were true.

"Finally he insists that you take some time off and sends you out here to see me with the contract, which he knows I wont sign, hoping that you will stay a while and enjoy my entertaining company, kick back on the beach and bring me back to New York afterwards to re-establish our awesome working partnership… and we all live happily ever after," he smiled.

She laughed. "You live in a dream world. Besides," she began with a polite smile, "I can see another beautiful relationship blossoming for you Castle."

He threw her a look of confusion.

"Yes, a certain Swedish investigator who couldn't fail to notice your, what was it?" she pretended to think, "Oh yes, 'charm and witty repartee,'" she quoted him.

He stopped with his coffee cup half way to his lips, looked at it and then put it down again as if the thought of Karlsdotter had put him off it.

"That's another reason why you have to come back, you can't leave me with her!"

"Well, if I do come back I won't be staying here anyway," she announced.

He frowned. "Why?"

"Because it's not professional," she replied. More like it was too personal and she really needed to distance herself from him, not make their relationship more intimate. "And talking of professionalism," she said, putting down her coffee cup and leaning back on the breakfast bar to take a good look at him. "What's been up with you today?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Castle said, feeling his heart rate increase a little by the way she was scrutinising him.

Her eyes darted around his face. "You've been very touchy feely today."

His heart raced more. "Touchy feely?"

"Yes. Hands in places they shouldn't be," she added.

He gave a small laugh and glanced out of the window, not having a clue how to reply to that.

"Castle?" she called, leaning towards him.

He turned his head to her. "Hmm," he responded innocently.

She was grinning from ear to ear. "I never thought I would see the day, you're blushing," she observed.

He laughed. "Nah, I don't do that."

She chuckled. "You do now."

"Anyway," he came back, "I know you enjoyed it."

It was a throw away comment meant to deflect from his own embarrassment but for some awful reason she didn't know how to react to it so she simply laughed and glanced away, a lot like he had done. Damn, why had she reacted like that? Castle did a double take and watched with amazement as color flooded her cheeks.

He leant back on his seat with a grin like a Cheshire cat. "Well, well, well, Kate Beckett, could it be that you're blushing too?"

"Don't be ridiculous," she replied, blatantly contradicting her words with her glowing cheeks.

He laughed loudly. "Now don't deny it," he teased, "you've been lying awake at night imagining my hands on you, haven't you."

Her blush deepened. Damn it, what was wrong with her? He delighted in the sight of her composure crumbling and what it implied.

"No Castle, just imagining _my_ hands on _you_…around your neck," she replied. Standing up suddenly. "Now, if you've finished with your childishness I'll be heading back."

His smile never faltered, he was in his element. He followed her to the door, taking the opportunity to get a last good look at her before she left. God he hoped she would be back soon. Things were just beginning to get really interesting.

She turned to him at the door. "Well, ill be in touch. Just think about those contracts," she reminded him.

"Ah," he said suddenly, "Hold on, you need my landline number."

He disappeared and returned with a slip of paper which he handed to her. She tucked it away in her jeans pocket.

"Goodbye Kate," he smiled before leaning towards her and whispering in her ear. "And sweet dreams tonight eh," he said, tapping her on the rear.

She growled and pushed him away, striding back to her car, getting in and slamming the door shut. In seconds she was speeding out of the driveway.

I WILL HAVE ANOTHER CHAPTER TO POST WITHIN THE HOUR.


	6. Chapter 6: Highway Horror

Beckett turned and left the coast to head a little way inland where she joined one of the state park roads which would eventually lead her back to the Long Island Expressway. The road was edged at each side with woodland for about a fifteen mile stretch until it met with a minor road which would take her through one of the smaller hamlets and finally to the expressway. She sped up when she hit the remote stretch as the daylight was fading and there was the unmistakable rumble of thunder in the distance. The last thing she wanted was to get caught up in a storm on this section of road. Storms made her nervous as it was and she hadn't passed a single vehicle for a couple of miles now; she was beginning to feel a sense of isolation which made her somewhat wary.

The daylight faded quicker than she had expected that evening; perhaps it was the heavily wooded areas lining the road that seemed to darken that stretch, but she began to curse her own stupidity, and Castle, for her not having left sooner. Her eyes moved anxiously from the road ahead, to the darkness beside her, to her mirror and the road behind, and back to the evening sky in the distance which flickered with light every now and then, telling her that she was going to have to race against the approaching storm if she was going to reach the relative safety of the expressway before it caught up with her.

As the rumbles of the night sky became all the more evident with their frequency and volume, she contemplated turning on the radio at an attempt at drowning out the sound and achieving some kind of distance from the surrounding gloom. Reaching for the car stereo however she paused and her hand hovered over the controls. For some reason she didn't feel comfortable with the distractions of music; instincts told her to have her wits about her however uncomfortable the developing scene outside was making her feel.

Soon spots of rain began to fall onto the windscreen and she turned on the wipers to aid her vision. The rain at that point was minimal, however just the fact that she was forced to use the wipers added to her nervousness because she saw it as a diversion which was distorting her vision of the road when trails of water smeared across the window and the wipers swayed in and out of her view.

Then, through the mist of her rear window, she saw a car approach and disappear for a second before it sped past her. Initially she felt some form of relief: at least there were other cars on this road. However, as it passed her she turned briefly to look for the driver and frowned with confusion when she couldn't seem to see anyone at all in the car! Her mind must have been playing tricks on her. She even wondered if she had imagined the car completely after there was no sign of it in the distance just moments later.

Straining to see through the hazy windscreen, it was then that she spotted an object on the road a few hundred metres ahead. The object looked to be quite large and seemed to be stretching out across the entire length of her path. As she approached it soon became clear however that it wasn't only one object but a series of fallen tree trunks haphazardly blocking her way. Strange she thought, because the car that had just whizzed past her was still nowhere in sight. How could it have got through the blockade? Perhaps the driver had somehow managed to clear a path enough to drive through, although how they could have done this so quickly she wasn't sure.

It wasn't long before she was forced to stop her car. What would she do now? She contemplated turning around and driving back to Castle but she didn't relish having to face the smug look on his face when he realised that she had come back to him. He was that arrogant he would probably think the fallen log story was an excuse and that she had changed her mind about staying at the beach house with him. Outside the rain was still only spotting and the twilight at least afforded her some light. If the other car had passed then she could too and still make the expressway before the storm hit with more force.

Against her better judgement, but with little other choice, she opened the car door and took a good look around her. The road behind was deserted of vehicles for as far as the eye could see, the road ahead, strewn with branches and littered with leaves from the fallen tree trucks. To either side of her the woodlands appeared to be a dark and foreboding presence but she had to ignore any irrational fears if she was going to make it to the highway; she took a deep breath, left her car and moved towards the blockade.

Most of the fallen trees were only saplings crisscrossed over each other and it seemed quite possible that with a few pushes or kicks, she could clear a space big enough for her to get the car through. She took hold of one of the branches of a trunk on the top of the pile and hesitantly pulled. It shifted slightly, along with the logs underneath it. If she was careful the best way to move the logs would be to pull at the top trunk and cause the logs underneath to roll so that a section of the blockade would collapse. She just needed to ensure that she was standing back when it did.

In theory her plan should have worked however the tree trunks underneath hadn't moved as much as she had anticipated and she was reluctant to use more force for fear that the logs would collapse too suddenly and roll towards her uncontrollably. Then a loud clap of thunder which came from above seemed to shake the very ground she stood on and she went rigid with fear. It was irrational of course, it was only thunder, but ever since she had been young the sound of thunder had forced all rationality out of her: she was petrified of it. She had made a big mistake; she should have headed back to Castle when she first saw the blockade and noticed the approaching storm. Who cared what he thought, she wanted out of there!

Abandoning the fallen tree trunks, she swiftly turned towards her car which she had left some eight or so metres behind but as she did so she found herself temporary blinded by sudden flash of white lightening which obliterated everything around her with its brightness. She stood rooted to the spot; the lightening was directly overhead, it was a wonder she hadn't been hit by it! The next thing she was aware of was being drenched by the ensuing rain when the heavens opened. Then the lightning disappeared as quickly as it had struck and there was utter blackness. The remains of the daylight seemed to have seeped out of the sky in the seconds since the flash of lightening. Maybe it was the intensity of the light that made the surroundings look so much darker, or maybe she had been so intent on moving the trees that she hadn't noticed the darkness creep in, but now it overwhelmed her all the more because of the remoteness of her surroundings. As she stood there, waiting for her eyes to register any small shimmer of light and bring her back to reality, she could feel panic begin to take hold.

The next flash of lightening almost came as a relief to her because at least she had some respite from darkness for a few seconds. However, relief swiftly turned to confusion and then horror when an image flashed into her vision as the lightening illuminated her car and inside she saw a dark shadow: the figure of a person behind the wheel! Her confusion came from the fact that she doubted her own eyes because surely there couldn't be anyone there but fear struck like a scene out of a horror movie when the light hit the person's face. It looked inhuman, stark white and devoid of any facial features. In fact it was devoid of anything; there was a person in her car but a person without a face! What the hell was going on? Darkness fell again. Her sensible head was telling her that she was seeing things, letting her fears and imagination run away with her, but out there, in the middle of nowhere in the darkness with nothing but the cold wind, rain and her own fears, shed never felt so alone, helpless and vulnerable. For the first time in a long time she had no idea what to do: whether to run to the car and face the ghostly figure or stay where she was, or to run and hide.

She knew from her police training that her indecision in itself was a vulnerability because standing there in the open on that dark deserted road, she was without protection. But making the wrong decision there could put her in more danger.

In the end the decision was taken out of her hands when with alarm she began to realise that her car was moving slowly backwards. In the flashes of light from the stormy sky she could see the car retreating and again, the shadowy figure at the wheel was present. She ran forward but it was then that she heard the engine start before the car made an abrupt manoeuvre, turned and sped off. In terror she stood helplessly watching it go. In it was every last shred of security she had on that dark road: shelter, her means of escape and more importantly, her firearm.

Finally she made a decision of what to do as her instinct for survival kicked in and she ran to the shelter of the trees at the road's edge. There at least she would be less open to the elements or any approaching danger. Clambering up a grass bank, she darted amongst the trees to infiltrate the edges of the woodland without becoming lost in its darkness or losing sight of the road. She stopped and turned away from the disturbing sight of the endless darkness behind her among the trees. Gasping for breath, she took a few moments to recover, trying to force down the terror that was threatening to overpower her.

When she finally began to catch her breath and the sound of her desperate gasps faded, there followed an awful quietness which only drove home how totally alone she was in that wilderness. All she could hear was the pelting rain and wind whistling eerily through the trees as she stood there trying to gather her thoughts. With her senses working overtime, she became aware of other noises behind her: the rustling of leaves, the creaking of branches, movements in the darkness. Paranoia set in and it prompted her to move cautiously towards a large tree where she stood with her back to its trunk for protection, focusing on the dim light of the road and trying not to imagine anything creeping up from behind her.

Okay, what was she going to do? She could attempt to walk back but it would take her hours and if she was honest with herself, she was simply too frozen with fear to attempt it. When the car had disappeared out of sight a question had formed in the back of her brain which she had, up until then, been too panicked to focus on. Where had she put her cell phone? If it was in her car then she was in big trouble but there was a glimmer of hope if she had it in her pocket. She placed a hand on the right hand pocket of her leather jacket and her heart raced when she felt the hard object inside. She slipped in her hand and pulled out her cell, feeling tears of relief form in her eyes at the sight of it.

With a shaking hand she dialled 911 and put the phone to her ear. It beeped and then fell silent. She went cold inside and took a look at the screen. It had cut off the call, but why? She tried again and again it cut off. Her heart began to race once more with rising panic as she tried for a third time, suspecting that again she would be cut off. She was. She scrolled to another number in her phonebook and tried again and again but each time the call failed to connect. It made no sense. Why was this happening to her? Tears streamed down her face as she hit the buttons with force, willing the phone to work. It didn't. In despair she began to sob in earnest and slid down the tree trunk to crouch on the floor with her arms wrapped around herself. What was she going to do?

In a desperate last attempt she scrolled to Castle's number, if she couldn't phone him maybe she could send him a text message. Then she remembered he had told her that he couldn't receive a signal in his house but… he had given her his landline number! She fumbled in her jeans pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper which she opened to reveal his telephone number written in bold black ink. She wasn't sure why but just the sight of it was of some strange comfort to her. As she dialled the number with no expectations of it connecting, she smiled when she thought of the way they had both blushed earlier and how he had teased her.

When she heard the phone ringing out she thought for a second she had imagined it but no, she was being put through! It was no coincidence that his was the only number she could connect to that evening but Beckett and Castle had yet to figure out why. She prayed that it wouldn't cut off or that Castle would be at home to answer it. As she waited she found herself holding her breath, so much relied on this.

Then she heard his voice and her heart raced.

"Washed up mystery writer here, who's calling?" he answered sarcastically.

Her breath came out in a rush of laughter and then sobs.

"Castle! It's Kate," she whimpered. "I need you to come get me…I'm…I'm…" she struggled for breath to get the words out in between sobs.

Immediately the tone of his voice changed. "What's wrong Kate? Where are you?" he asked urgently.

"I'm on the state park r r r road. There's some fallen trees…I got stuck… But Castle… someone stole my car and …and …" The words came out in a rush as she tried to explain everything in her muddled head.

"Okay, alright, I'm on my way," he assured her, grabbing his keys from off the kitchen counter and rushing to the front door. "Where exactly are you?" he asked again.

"I'm on the ….road, where the road is blocked. Hurry Castle…" she pleaded.

"I'm in the car now. Stay on the phone," he said, turning on the ignition and speeding out of the driveway.

She slumped back against the tree trunk, at last now with hope in sight of leaving that godforsaken place.

"Kate, are you there?" Castle asked, unsettled by the silence from her.

"Yes," she answered weakly.

He was now on the winding street that led from his house to the state road and he calculated that if he put his foot down he should be with her in five or ten minutes, depending on how far she had driven.

"Kate, are you hurt?" he asked; he'd never heard her so distraught.

"No, I'm okay" she replied. "It's just that the person who stole my car…" how could she explain how surreal and odd it had been? "He came from nowhere and there was another car and…" she was aware that she was sounding ridiculous but at that moment she didn't care, all she wanted was to get away from there. "Just get here," she finished, "I'll explain then."

"I should be there in five or ten minutes Kate, just hold on," he said, accelerating when he hit the open road.

She tightened her arms around herself and crouched with her chin on her knees, waiting and watching the road for signs of Castle's car. Then from behind the fallen trees there seemed to have been a movement. Her heart began to thud again as she watched in terror when first one, then two, then three pale figures emerged onto the road. They were all dressed in white and as one of the figures turned in her direction, she saw the same unearthly white face of the figure who had been in her car.

She lifted the phone to her ear. "Castle, are you there?" she whispered.

"I'm still here," he assured her.

"Castle, there are people here," she said in a shaky voice.

"Where? What people?" he asked.

"I don't know…" she cried, "…like the person who stole my car. I don't like it, hurry," she appealed.

"Don't go near them," he warned. "Have they seen you?"

"I don't think so," she whispered. But the figures were on the move; they had split up and seemed to be searching for something. For her?

Come on castle! Come on, come on! She buried her head in her lap and prayed that he would appear soon.

"Kate? Kate? Kate?"

The first few shouts came from her cell phone but then she realised that her name was echoing around her. She looked up to see Castle's car parked below and the figures moving back to the fallen trees. Standing up with her cell phone clenched in her hand she just managed to hold it up and catch the figures in a shaky photograph before they disappeared. Then she ran from the trees and down the bank onto the road.

Castle was partly dreading finding Kate for fear that she had been hurt or worse but when her bedraggled figure emerged from the trees he was overwhelmed with relief that she seemed to be unhurt. She ran to him sobbing but then stopped in front of him, unsure of how to act. She had never been so relieved to see someone in all her life but she struggled to keep as much composure as she could, holding out a shaking hand to him and clenching hold of his arm.

"I…I'm…" she stuttered, hardly knowing what she was saying as tears streamed down her face.

"Come here," he said, pulling her suddenly to him and wrapping his arms tightly around her shaking body. She clung onto him for dear life.

"It's all right now," he said, his words as much as a comfort to himself as to her. For one terrifying moment a thought had popped into his head: he could lose her. He buried his face into her hair and revelled in her nearness. He couldn't seem to get close enough to her even though he was closer than he had ever been. He simply didn't want to let her go now that he had found her safe. She leant into him and rested her head on his shoulder as she sobbed. She was being weak and feeble but she couldn't help it. His arms tightened. She felt fragile and soft against him and he could feel her body trembling as she cried.

"It's okay," he whispered into her hair. "No one's going to hurt you now."


	7. Chapter 7: Someone To Turn To

Beckett and Castle ran back to his car, tore open the doors and jumped in. Castle started up the engine whilst Beckett locked her door before reaching across him and locking his. He looked up at her, briefly pausing to assess her face. She looked pale and terrified, her eyes wide and wary, darting around them.

"Come on," he said, abruptly turning the car around, "let's get outta here."

As they sped back down the dark wooded road Beckett sat rigid and watchful in her seat with her arms wrapped around herself. Castle's eyes darted sideways to her constantly as he drove.

"You must be chilled to the bone," he observed, once they had put some distance between themselves and the blockade. He reached onto the back seat behind them and grabbed his coat, handing it to her. "Here, put this over you."

She took hold of the coat with a small, 'thanks', wrapping it over herself with robotic, automatic movements. Her mind was elsewhere as she stared silently out of the window.

"Kate?" Castle said with concern. She didn't seem to hear him. "Kate," he repeated louder. She jumped and turned her head to him. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm fine," she replied, turning back to stare out into the darkness. She didn't look 'fine.'

"I'll get us home and warmed up and we'll sort everything out tomorrow. Don't worry," he said, placing a reassuring hand over hers, "we'll figure this all out. There's nothing we can't figure out together eh." He smiled at her but she wasn't even looking at him, just staring… staring out of the window. "They picked the wrong people to mess with," he added angrily, almost as if to himself, before pressing his foot harder on the accelerator.

When they got back to the beach house Castle had planned to make them both a hot drink and Beckett had wandered into the kitchen with him, but one look at her face when the thunder rolled and the sky could be seen through the patio windows flashing with lightening, and he changed his mind. She had stood there rooted to the spot, staring outside with that look of terror.

"C'mon, I got a better idea," he said, grabbing her hand and leading her out of the kitchen and across the hallway to another room.

The living room she found herself in was a lot smaller than the long open area of the kitchen, and it seemed somehow warmer and more cosy. It had two rich chocolate coloured leather sofas which took up most of the room along with the large, abstract, cream golden and blue rug and wooden coffee table in the centre. The focal point of the wall facing the doorway was an impressive looking fireplace surrounded with light wooden panelling running to the far wall and the windows which Castle covered by drawing some heavy curtains across them.

He turned then to see Beckett hovering by the doorway as if unsure about… well everything. This wasn't like Beckett at all and it concerned Castle.

"Take a seat," he prompted, gesturing to the sofa. "I'll get us a drink: I think we could do with one," he said, striding over to a drinks table and pouring them a large tumbler of whisky each.

She moved tentatively into the room and took a seat. He joined her on the sofa, handing her the tumbler.

"Here, drink this; you need it. You've had a big shock."

She accepted the glass and took a huge gulp of the contents. "I don't know what happened," she began, cringing slightly when the fiery golden liquid hit her throat. "It started when the car passed me; it was so strange. How could it have got past the blockade so quickly? And then I was moving the logs fine but the storm got worse and it was dark and…but…when I got out of the car there was no one there." She glanced across at Castle. "I'm telling you Castle, there was nobody on that road anywhere in sight," she repeated adamantly as if trying to justify herself.

He held up his hands in surrender, "Calm down, I believe you."

She continued, needing to verbalise her chaotic thoughts in an attempt to find some reasoning.

"Then suddenly there was someone in my car, but it was dark…really dark, and I could only see through the lightening ..but then there had to be someone there because the car drove off…" Oh God she was rambling like a crazy woman; it all sounded completely nuts!

"Like you said, it was dark and if someone wanted your car then I guess they wouldn't want you to know they were there," Castle reasoned.

He was just trying to reassure her but both of them knew there was more to it than that.

She bit her lip because what was really troubling her was the strangeness of the people themselves. How could she explain that to Castle without it sounding utterly absurd? Then she remembered the image she had captured on her cell phone. She swallowed down her nervousness and pulled the phone out of her jacket pocket but before she scrolled through her images she paused and reconsidered, handing the phone to Castle instead.

"Here, take a look for yourself; I think I got a picture of them on there," she said, sitting back in her seat and taking another sip of her whisky whilst avoiding any eye contact with the screen of her cell.

He glanced at her with surprise before curiously searching for the image, finding the most recent photograph and waiting for it to open.

"Woa!" he said, springing back in his seat when he saw it. "What's that? Who's them?" he said, pointing to the screen.

"So I didn't imagine it then," she said, leaning over to take a quick look.

"No, there they are. Hey I've seen these before," he said.

"You have?" she replied instinctively.

"Yeah, on that movie 'Attack of the White Faceless Dudes.' Scary movie!" he joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Shut up, stupid" she said, slapping him on the arm.

"I'm not kiddin'," he smiled. "No but seriously I'm not surprised you were so shaken up, I'd have been crying for my mother…well, more probably Alexis actually; she's more sensible in a crisis," he explained with a grin.

She gave a small laugh and he smiled in response before sobering again slightly when he took another look at the image.

"You wanna know what I think?" he asked.

"What?"

"I think that someone went to a lot of trouble to stage this for your benefit," he said, contemplating the picture.

"But why?" she asked.

"Don't know. I haven't figured that out yet but we will. There's also something else that springs to mind," he added, handing back her phone.

"Can you make it good news please because…" she took the phone but closed it quickly and slipped it back into her pocket, sitting back in her seat with a sigh, "I'm all out of patience for more bad news tonight."

"Well," he thought for a moment, "in a way it is. If it's any consolation I don't think that these people mean to harm us. I do think that there's a connection between what happened to you tonight and events next door…"

She turned to him suddenly then.

"…don't you?" he asked. "It seems all too coincidental to me."

She nodded her acknowledgement of his point and sipped her whisky thoughtfully.

"But," he went on, "if they had wanted to hurt us they'd have done it by now. I left my patio doors unlocked last night and you would have been an easy target," he pointed out.

She put a hand to her head as if it hurt. "Don't remind me." It suddenly hit home how incredibly amiss she had been: how downright dumb to have got herself into that situation. All at once she felt overwhelmed with the last few exhausting months of working overtime and self derision for not being able to do her job as well as she thought she had before Castle had come into the Precinct and turned everything on its head. Then he'd left and she had felt dysfunctional without him which had prompted her to work twice as hard to prove to herself that she could do as well on her own. But even Montgomery had told her to take a break; he must have noticed her work slipping too.

"I don't know if I can do this anymore," she suddenly announced.

That got his attention and his eyes shot to hers. He watched as she held her head in her hands.

"What do you mean?" he asked cautiously.

She groaned, ran a hand through her hair and then looked up suddenly at him. "It's just…" She didn't want to hear her own words admit that she had failed and her eyes suddenly swam with unshed tears. Her throat ached with the effort to hold them back and retain some kind of dignity and so she moved her gaze from him, avoiding eye contact. "I can't figure out what happened, how I ended up like that. I mean, I'm supposed to be trained better than that; I should have been more prepared and aware of the situation. How am I gonna explain this to Montgomery?" she said desperately.

"Woa, hold your horses," he said, taking her by the arms to look at her squarely in the face. "Before you throw the towel in, it's not the end of the world…or anything close. We'll just explain what happened. He has a lot of respect for you Kate, it won't be a problem," he assured her.

Nevertheless, she hung her head again as the tears welled up all the more because Castle seemed to have so much faith in her when she had lost all faith in herself.

Castle felt completely helpless watching Beckett suffering so much and it became a physical pain for him not to try to comfort her more. He so much wanted to say the right thing: the thing that would make her smile again. Reaching out to her, with no idea what he was going to say until he said it, he lifted her head and took her face in his hands, gazing at her tenderly. Her eyes met his with surprise.

"You listen to me Kate, you are the most amazing cop. I'm telling you, I'm in awe of how well you do your job. I've written books about it for God sake!" he exclaimed. She gave a small laugh then but the tears began to fall uncontrollably, dripping down her cheeks as she was overcome with emotion. She had nowhere to hide them but she figured that he had already seen her break down on the highway and she no longer had the energy for pretence. Besides, there didn't seem to be any awkwardness between them, he simply wiped the tears away gently with his thumbs. "Don't ever doubt that," he whispered. "But one thing," he went on, "you're not Superwoman sweetheart. You make a huge difference to the lives that you touch but you can't save the world and you shouldn't feel responsible for everything when things don't turn out how we would all like. Give yourself a break, you need a life for yourself that doesn't involve work and I think that will make you even better at what you do because you'll be more satisfied." He grinned then. "I can help with the satisfied bit," he added cheekily.

She laughed then. He was so incorrigible! And, she had to admit, he was being really sweet, amazingly so!

"Joking aside though, Kate," he continued, "I'm always here for you. If you need to let off steam remember that I'm not really part of the team, you know, I'm the weird in-between guy, and that means you can talk to me and not worry about having to be the boss, or the employee. It's just me, Castle."

He smiled warmly into her eyes and she smiled appreciatively back. He moved towards her then and leant his forehead against hers affectionately, gazing down at her. He felt so much affection for her at that moment and funnily enough his only thought was to show her that when he shifted his head slightly and slowly, instinctively moved his mouth towards hers. He felt the softness of her lips very briefly before something suddenly changed. His heart beat raced at the realisation. He could hear and feel her sudden intake of breath and she moved her head back from him very slightly but their mouths were still inches apart. Then time stood still again. Both of their parted lips hovered before each other's. She was so close that he could feel her breath.

Something very significant was happening; they were both on the verge of something: each waiting and unsure. Then as quickly as all this had happened it stopped when she abruptly pulled back.

"I…you…I…" she stuttered, her mind not functioning at all properly. "Thank you," she said quickly, turning and looking awkwardly around the room for a diversion.


	8. Chapter 8: Temporary Insanity

Woa! That had never happened before with Castle! What on earth was going on? In the space of just one day suddenly her relationship with Castle was changing dramatically. She felt…uneasy about it. It wasn't so much his actions because, let's face it, he'd always flirted with her (Okay so admittedly that afternoon he had pushed his luck more than ever before) but what really concerned Beckett was her own responses to him. She'd always known how to deal with Castle, well most of the time anyway. But even when he had caught her off guard she'd been able to bluff her way out of a situation which would give away too much of what she was thinking and feeling inside. Now however, since she had gone to the Hamptons, she'd found it increasingly more difficult to deal with these one to one encounters with him. Was it because she was out of her comfort zone and in his territory, or the fact that she felt so shaken and vulnerable after her terrifying experience that night? Another theory sprung to mind but she sincerely hoped that it was not because, after convincing herself that she was better off with him out of her life, seeing him again had made her realize that she was not! Had absence made her heart grow fonder?

Either way, she had to pull herself together because now that he was showing an obvious physical interest in her she was losing her head and acting like a love sick school girl! The thing is that he'd been so sweet there in the living room and when she'd suddenly felt his lips brush hers she'd been totally unprepared. Yes, they had flirted before but she hadn't thought he would move beyond that, let alone so suddenly and without any warning! But maybe she was running away with herself; maybe he had just meant it as a means of comfort and reassurance and it was her who was reading too much into things. Oh God, she was so messed up!

So there she was, sitting beside him, cringing inside at the silence and her inability to think of something witty to say to relieve her embarrassment. He on the other hand seemed to be loving every minute of watching her squirm and was highly amused at her response to his closeness. Then, just when the awkwardness was beginning to get unbearable, something from across the room caught her eye and her heart began to thud with fear. Maybe she was just being paranoid. She didn't want to start sounding like a crazy woman again but the more she forced her eyes away and tried to focus on what Castle had begun to say, the more her eyes kept returning.

"Kate?" Castle questioned, confused with her apparent distraction. What had caught her eye he wondered?

Beckett shook her head and focused on him. "Sorry, you were saying?"

"Would you like a top up?" he asked, gesturing to the whisky glass in her hands. She looked down in surprise to see that she had emptied it.

"Oh err…" Her focus was diverted across the room once more. "Castle," she began suddenly turning to him with concern. She _had _to ask. "Didn't you close those curtains?" she questioned, pointing to the windows across from them.

There were four large windows in succession, three of which had heavy cream and gold curtains pulled across them but one, the furthest, was uncovered.

Castle stood up and strolled across the room to draw the curtains. "I must have forgotten to draw these ones," he said, blocking out the darkness of the garden with the material. She rose from the sofa as he returned to her.

"Castle, you know the patio doors that you left unlocked last night?" she said.

"Yes," he replied.

"Do you think you could go check to see if they are locked now?" she asked.

"Oh… sure," he said, frowning slightly but turning towards the door before pausing and turning back to her for a moment. "You want anything from the kitchen, a drink, water?" he offered.

She shook her head. "No thanks, just check the doors," she urged.

"No problem, I'll be right back," he responded, heading for the kitchen.

As she watched him go she suddenly experienced a whole mixture of uneasy feelings. It was as if in the back of her mind there were a number of different dangers they could be facing in that house that night but her conscious mind wasn't able to figure them all out and make the right decisions to prevent them from happening. Of course, it could have all been paranoia on her part but, although she had wanted Castle to check that the doors were locked as a sensible precaution, she now felt anxious about being left alone. True, she could have gone with him but there was something about the way that those patio windows exposed the inside of the house to the darkness of the garden outside that unnerved her.

With the empty whisky glass still clutched in her hands, she found herself slowly and hesitantly drawn to the living room window to check the curtains that Castle had just closed. She was sure that he had closed them all when they had first entered the living room. Standing in front of the window she stared at the curtains until her hand suddenly and automatically reached out towards them. She took hold of the edge of one of the curtains as if to pull it back but then halted. Her heart was racing but she had to satisfy herself that everything in the house was okay and then maybe she'd stop with the paranoia and get some sleep that night. Then suddenly a clap of thunder exploded outside, startling her and at the same time causing her to move suddenly, whipping the curtain open. That was the beginning of the terror for the night because immediately afterwards a flash of white lightening temporary blinded her and she took a few steps back, blinking to clear her vision before…boom…there it was. As quick as the lightening had flashed for one terrifying instant there was a face in the window: a white featureless face. Then it had gone.

She stood, frozen to the spot, imagining that the faceless figure would return to the window but it didn't. She held her breath for a couple of moments in anticipation but exhaled suddenly when everything had returned to normality. Was she going nuts? Stepping towards the window again, she peered out into the darkness. There were the shadows of trees in the distance and she could make out the huge swimming pool in the foreground as a dim light hit the surface of the water which was being disturbed by the pelting of rain. Then there was thunder again and she moved nervously back from the glass. It was the lightening which preceded it that she was becoming more and more terrified of. Her hand shot out and she grabbed the curtain to pull it back across the window but before she could do so, out in the distant darkness she could see them: white figures flashing among the trees as they moved. They were everywhere! She hadn't imagined it, they were there! Dropping the curtains edge she stumbled backwards in horror, then smash! She let out a cry of terror; a window had been smashed and the house was open to the outside!

"Kate! What's wrong?" Castle shouted as he rushed into the room.

"They're out there!" she exclaimed, pointing to the window. "They're breaking in!"

Castle could clearly see that something had frightened Beckett but he wasn't entirely sure what. The only thing that was out of place was the broken whisky glass on the floor that she had dropped. He approached her and took her shaking hands in his.

"Listen the doors in the kitchen were locked and no one can break in. This place has the best security devices money can buy: sensor floodlighting and alarms fitted throughout. If anyone was out there, we would know about it," he assured her. "Then we could telephone the police," he chuckled, before sobering when he saw her face. She rolled her eyes and pulled her hands out of his. He was clearly not going to believe her so now her priority was just to get through tonight and investigate it all in the morning.

"Fine, I'm just a bit jumpy tonight and tired, I need sleep," she said, turning to finally close the curtain. As she moved however, Castle caught her arm, startling her. She looked down at his hand.

"Watch the glass," he warned.

Glass? She hadn't even realised that the whisky glass had fallen out of her hand. It hadn't been a window at all. God, she had to pull herself together. Maybe she really was losing her mind that night.

She bent then to pick up the pieces but Castle stopped her. "Don't worry about that, ill clear it up tomorrow. Come on," he ushered her towards the door, "I'll show you to one of the spare rooms... unless…" he paused at the door and turned to her, placing an arm around her shoulder, "you want to share mine…you know, we could stick together…for moral support," he emphasised. She threw him a sideways glance.

"You wouldn't be taking advantage of a woman in distress now would you Castle?"

"Err not at all, just doing my knight in shining armour bit," he smiled.

"Yeah well, cool it Lancelot," she replied, taking hold of the middle finger of his hand which was resting on her shoulder and pulling it over her head so that he was forced to release his hold of her, "this damsel can handle herself and is sleeping alone tonight," she said over her shoulder as she headed for the stairs.

The words were said with a lot more conviction than she felt but she sure as hell wasn't going to fall into Castle's arms that night just because she'd had a fright. She could and she _would_ pull herself together!

Her conviction was soon to waver however when, as she climbed the stairs she had to walk past a window at the top and a flash of lightening lit up the sky as she passed. She jumped nervously and halted, glancing back down the stairs towards Castle and wondering whether to run back down to him or risk forging forward into unknown territory and who knows how many other window encounters. She turned her back to the window and waited for him to catch her up.

"You okay?" he asked with a frown when he noticed her terrified face. "You don't like that do you," he said, gesturing outside, "the thunder storm. Alexis used to be like that. We had a few storms out here in the summer vacations and they used to really shake her up. You going to be okay?" he asked.

She nodded. "I'm not a child anymore, I'll be fine."

"Okay," he said, passing her and leading the way to the spare room.

As she suspected the room was huge and also had a wall of windows stretching across the length of the room. Well, it made sense, these houses were built to make the most of the views. Still, she longed for a smaller room with… well no windows at all would have been preferable.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Castle asked again at the door.

"Yes, I'll be fine thank you," she replied. She was just going to have to shut all the curtains as quickly as she could and then dive under the bedcovers.

"Okay," he said, turning to leave. "But if you need me just holler. My room is across there," he said, pointing down the hallway.

"Thanks, ill be fine," she repeated, shutting the door and making a dash for the curtains, yanking them across one after the other. She tried to avoid looking outside but for some reason at the last window her eyes, with a morbid fascination of their own, strayed to the darkness outside. It was then that she truly did think that she was losing her mind because there, standing by the pool underneath the balcony, she saw the long dark curls and distinctive smiling face of her mother looking up at her!

"What?" she backed away as her brain struggled to make sense of what she had seen. Her breathing came in ragged gasps suddenly as she fought to fill her lungs. Panic was beginning to take over. She bent forward then, grabbing hold of the window sill for support as she peered down into the garden again. There was nothing and no one there. Oh Lord, what was happening to her?

"Castle," she shouted, rushing for the door and emerging into the dark corridor. She ran a hand through her hair as she stood there trying to remember which room was his. Lightening struck again outside and she called out in panic, "Castle, Castle!" Where was he? Had they got to him? Was she alone? She tried to calm her breathing but she found herself once more taking in short sharp breaths as though there wasn't enough air. Then a door opened and he burst out, toothbrush in hand.

"What's happened?"

She was so relieved to see him again that she simply covered her face with her hands and sobbed. Would this horrific night ever end?

**ANOTHER CHAPTER LATER TONIGHT**


	9. Chapter 9: Mr Floppy

Castle looked at Kate with anguish. What was he going to do? She was so distraught that night and he felt so helpless.

"Hey, what is it?" he asked, approaching her and pulling her hands away from her face.

"I keep thinking I'm seeing things outside," she wept, feeling ridiculous, angry and upset with herself. "Oh God, am I going nuts?"

He smiled and pulled her to him, winding his arms around her. "No," he laughed, "but your body is in shock sweetheart. It figures considering what you've been through tonight." He pulled back then and linked his hands behind her waist. "But you know what, in the morning things will seem a lot better. We've just got to get through tonight."

She had thought the very same thing herself but the night seemed to be getting worse by the minute!

"I know," she nodded, trying to be sensible, " but…" She turned her head anxiously to the window at the top of the stairs.

She looked so completely lost and terrified, he wanted badly to be with her, hold her, but at the same time he was acutely aware that suggesting it would sound as if he had an ulterior motive. Admittedly, under normal circumstances, with her, he _would _have an ulterior motive because she was one hot lady! But at that moment he just wanted to protect and comfort her.

Then it came to him! He just might have thought of a solution.

"I've got an idea, come with me," he said suddenly, grabbing her hand and leading her down the corridor in the opposite direction from the room she had just left.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Well, as I said before, when Alexis was younger she used to be afraid of thunder storms," he said, turning a corner, "so for a while we both moved room to here," he explained, stopping outside the only door in that smaller section of the upstairs hallway. He turned the handle and pushed open the door.

"Duddudduddah!" he announced, gesturing into the room.

"Bunk beds?" she questioned, turning to him.

"Yeah," he said proudly, bounding into the room and hauling himself onto the upper bed, sitting with his legs dangling over the side. "Dibs on top bunk!"

She gave a small laugh at the sight of him. "Castle," she put her hands on her hips, "you're not five and neither am I! I'm not _that_ frightened," she lied, "you're sweet but, you don't have to babysit me," she said, hovering by the door.

"Are you kiddin'?" he replied, jumping off the bed suddenly towards her. "What about me? I _am_ that frightened!" he exclaimed. "Please Beckett, will you sleep on the bottom bunk for me?" he pouted.

She watched him for a moment, she knew what he was up to and she felt… touched.

"Well, since you're afraid," she said, moving into the room, "I guess I'll _have _to…" Just then a roll of thunder could be heard outside and she grabbed the door, slamming it behind her and leaning back against the handle "… I'll sleep in here," she confirmed quickly.

He grinned with the boyish excitement of a child who had just got permission for a playmate to sleepover.

"Right then," Beckett began, having accepted that they would be sleeping in there that night, "Give me your shirt," she ordered.

His face lit up. "Oooh, only if you promise to seduce me out of it," he grinned.

She rolled her eyes, "Hand it over," she insisted, gesturing to his shirt, "and then you can get in there," she said, pointing to the connecting bathroom, "and do… whatever… until I say so, okay?" She had thought about going into the bathroom herself but she had a vision of coming out of there and he'd disappeared again, carried away by something or someone, so she opted for simply cutting her losses and slipping into bed immediately once she had seized the opportunity to undress.

He growled at her. "So masterful," he said, unbuttoning his shirt. He went to say something more as he handed it to her but she silenced him by forcing him to turn and pushing him towards the bathroom. He purred at her over his shoulder before disappearing behind a closed door. She leapt into action immediately and whipped her shirt off over her head before unfastening her jeans and peeling them off. Then she thrust her arms into his shirt, buttoning it up whilst heading for the bottom bunk. Immediately the warmth from Castle's body heat that had remained in the shirt transmitted to her and the aroma from his aftershave filled her senses. It reminded her of the few moments they had shared on the sofa downstairs earlier that afternoon.

Throwing back the quilt, she slipped into the bed and sat, glancing around the room. There was a definite woodland theme to it with the pink and green quilts, rugs and walls covered with cute woodland animals and bold coloured flowers. Around the entire room on the walls ran a painted white picket fence, over and under which popped the smiling faces of flowers, bunnies, bears and squirrels, and in the far corner there was some kind of cottage playhouse. Alexis had clearly been quite young when the bedroom had been decorated however she must have also used it in her early teens before moving out into another room because on the wall opposite the bunk beds was pinned a collection of pop star posters.

Strangely enough the room did kind of reassure Kate by her just being in it but she could still hear the thunder and rain outside and the memory of the terrifying 'faceless' figures, as well as the image of her mother outside, was looming in her head.

What was Castle doing in there? He seemed to have been in there for an awful long time. She pulled the quilt more snugly around her and waited for him to emerge. Seconds and minutes passed but still there was not a sound coming from the bathroom. Slowly her nervousness began to build.

"Castle!" she shouted out eventually in panic.

The door flew open and he came running out in his boxer shorts. "What's up?"

She gave a sigh of relief. "What have you been doing in there all that time?"

"Waiting for you!" he replied defensively. "You told me to stay in there until you said you were ready."

She frowned. "I did? Well I don't take that long to get into bed!"

He tutted and shook his head, turning the light off and heading for the bed. The only light was now a soft glow coming from behind the bathroom door. "Well with you women a guy just never knows." She watched him approaching, assuming that he'd climb up the steps to the top bunk but instead he stood looking down at her with one hand behind his back. "Okay, so, are you ready?" he asked.

She blinked a few times. "Ready for what?"

He grinned. "I haven't done this for years. Ready for… Mr Floppy time!" he announced, producing a big, grey, floppy eared stuffed bunny from behind his back.

She couldn't help but laugh. "Mr Floppy time?" she echoed incredulously.

"Sure, Mr Floppy goes bounce, bounce, bounce," he said, bouncing the bunny up the bed towards her, "and…wait for it… budoom, budoom," he said, flopping the ears on Kate's nose. She stared up at him in shock.

"Oh my God, I've got nothing to worry about; you're the one who's going insane!" she exclaimed, pushing the bunny out of her face.

He laughed but carried on regardless. "Now make space for the last big bounce into the bunny burrow," he urged. "That means you gotta pull back the quilt next to you," he said aside under his breath. He had to be kidding! "Come on, come, on," he urged. She couldn't believe what she was about to do but she did indeed find herself pulling back the quilt for the bunny. "One," he said, bouncing the bunny, "two," he continued bouncing the bunny higher, "three!" he finished bouncing the bunny into the space beside Kate and pulling the quilt around them, before leaning towards her, giving her a quick kiss on the nose and standing up again. "Go with me on this, it's tradition," he said, by way of an explanation. She looked at a loss; what could she say?

The thunder rolled again outside and without moving her head, her eyes flicked sideways to the window and back to Castle.

"Now," he continued, trying to distract attention away from what was happening outside, "the big brown bear climbs the mountain," he said, climbing up to the top bunk, "to sit on top of the bear cave and watch over the beautiful princess like he has done since the first time they met," he said, wriggling into bed. Kate chuckled quietly to herself underneath. He leant over the side then to peer down at her, "You want to hear the story of when they first met?" he asked.

"This I just have to hear," she laughed.

"Okay," he replied, "but you have to promise that you will close your eyes and concentrate on falling asleep for Mr Bear. Do you promise?" he asked.

"Scouts honour," she said, trying her best to hold back the laughter.

"Okay," he said, satisfied and slipping down under the quilt. "A long, long time ago there was a great big nasty old giant whose name was… his name changes every time, you gotta give the giant a nasty name," he prompted Kate.

"You're kidding, right?" she responded.

"No, come on, you're slowing down the story," he replied.

"Castle?"

"Yes?"

"Is there much audience participation in this story?" she asked, beginning to regret agreeing to hearing the story.

"No, this is the only bit," he replied.

Oh Lord, she was going to have to think of a name for a nasty giant!

"Come on!" he prompted after a short silence.

"Err, bozo!" She came out with the only thing she could think of at the time. She bit her lip.

"Bozo! That's a good one!" he chuckled. She was relieved to hear that it was up to standard. "Okay so Bozo used to walk all around the land at night, boom, boom, boom in his big boots just to make children frightened. Now luckily there was a really kind big, brown bear who, out of the kindness of his heart, found a magical way to take away all the children's fears. Of course, the big, bad giant didn't like the big, brown bear much so one night he set a trap for him." Castle leant over the side of the bed again at that point, saying to Kate, "Now don't get too scared at the next bit because it all turns out okay in the end," he reassured her.

"Okay," she laughed.

"Okay," he smiled and lay back again. "Then Bozo went to a small village and crashed and banged all around the streets, making the poor children terrified in their beds. The kind bear heard the children's cries and ran quickly to the village but on the way he was so worried about the children that he didn't see the bear trap and as soon as the box had fallen on top of him the giant locked the padlock and the bear was helpless to save the children!" Castle paused for a moment. "How you doin' down there?" he called out.

"I think ill just about cope," she replied, chuckling.

"Just checkin'" he grinned before continuing. "The bear stayed in the trap for years, and for years the poor children suffered until one day a beautiful princess found the trap and the bear sitting forlornly behind the bars of the box. The bear told the princess his story and the princess really wanted to release the bear but she couldn't open the padlock. Then, out of nowhere, a big floppy bunny appeared and told her a secret. You still got the big floppy bunny?" he asked Kate.

"Yes," she assured him, wondering how on earth Alexis ever got any sleep when Castle kept interrupting the story. He went on.

"There was a rumour that in the neighbouring land that there lived a wizard with a magic key which would open any lock to release a good person, but if the person was bad when the key was used the lock would stay closed forever. Well the princess knew that releasing the bear would be a very good cause and so she asked the bunny how she could find this wizard. The bunny told her to hop onto his back, he was a very big bunny and she was a tiny princess," he reasoned, " and then off the bunny bounced. It was like magic how fast the bunny bounced across the land until finally they found the wizard in the magic castle. Now the wizard didn't want to give the key over to any old person and so he asked the princess to tell him three things about what she was like to assess if she was worthy of taking the magic key. The princess thought carefully and replied… 'I have devoted my life to helping good people and locking up bad people,' Castle leant over and threw Kate a purposeful look. She gave a small laugh. He continued, "I do this because I care about the people I help, and well, I'm a real cool chick too!' She winked at the wizard."

Kate's eyes widened and she couldn't help interrupting. "She did? Is it okay to wink at a wizard?" she asked with a grin.

"Yes it is; he was a cool wizard," he replied. "Now close your eyes, you should be falling asleep by now," he reprimanded her.

"Yes sir," she chuckled, turning over on her side with the ridiculous floppy rabbit in bed behind her.

"Anyway, the wizard smiled, "So you are ," he agreed. "Here, you may have the key." So she took the key, thanking the wizard, and returned to the bear trap on the big bunny's back. The key opened the padlock and the bear finally climbed out of the box after being trapped in there for three long years. Unfortunately though Bozo, the big bad giant, had heard about the princess who wanted to release the bear and he came running angrily, boom, boom, boom, in his big boots to trample on the princess. The princess was very frightened but luckily it turns out that the bunny was a magic bunny and just before the giant reached the princess he turned the box trap into a huge, huge trap and the giant ran into it. As quick as a flash the big, brown bear grabbed the key and turned the lock and because the giant was a very bad giant the padlock would never, never open again." Castle took another look over the bed at Kate underneath as he continued in a quieter voice. "Now although the giant could never hurt any of the little children from that moment on, sometimes he got angry and made a big noise inside that box trap but the bear told all the children that the giant could never get out and he stayed with the princess forever to protect and reassure her just in case she got frightened in the night," he finished.

The room fell silent and Castle watched the pale curve of Kate's cheek and her auburn hair fanned out on the pillow. He had thought she was asleep but after a moment she must have sensed him watching her because she shifted her head and looked up at him. He smiled and winked at her, whispering, "goodnight Kate."

She smiled back warmly. "Goodnight," she whispered in response before returning her head to the pillow.

xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx

It was dark, so very dark that no matter how much she strained to see, Beckett's eyes could make out nothing. She was helpless, alone, vulnerable. Then she heard breathing and she knew that someone was close behind. The hairs on the back of her neck crackled with fear.

"Who's there?" she called out. There was no reply, no supportive human contact to relieve her fear, just more breathing from what seemed like every direction around her. She felt sick with terror but there was no escape. She stood, frozen to the spot, waiting for the horror to unfold. Then the lightening flashed and she inhaled deeply, closing her eyes to block out the scene around her. But closing her eyes made no difference because she could see through her eye lids, she couldn't hide from the white faceless ghouls around her, touching her hair, her arms, her skin!

Then someone was calling her from afar. She knew that voice; she turned towards it and there was her mother. She felt elated, saved.

"Mother!" she called out. "I'm here!" But her voice was too quiet. She tried again to shout louder, she strained desperately to communicate with her mother but her mother seemed to be lost and oblivious to her.

Beckett pushed past the white figures around her; she was no longer afraid of touching them, her only concern was to reach her mother. They finally lost interest in surrounding her and let her go, so determined was she to break free.

She ran with all her worth but her mother never seemed to get closer. She called out and ran… helplessly… pointlessly. She would not stop, she could not stop! But soon her legs felt weak and she began tripping and falling to the floor.

When she looked up then they were surrounding her mother! The white faceless figures seemed to be suffocating her mother. She felt her mother drowning… breathless… dying!

"No!" she called out. It was her fault! She had lead them to her mother. "I'm here," she shouted, come get me!" But the figures were no longer interested in her.

"No, mother, mother!" she cried. "Sorry! I'm sorry. I love you! Mother!" she sobbed.

"Kate!"

She heard a loud deep voice echo around her.

Castle had woken with a start and sat bolt upright in bed. It had taken him a few seconds to realise where he was and what was happening but when he heard Beckett call out for her mother he flung back the bed covers and flew out of the bed, leaping down to the floor below.

She was still shouting out and fighting with her quilt as she tossed in the bed. He sat next to her, grabbing her firmly by the arms and pulling her up towards him to a sitting position.

"Wake up now sweetheart, it's just a dream Kate," he said, wrapping his arms around her as she sobbed uncontrollably. He held her closely for a while but her sobbing didn't seem to be lessoning so he pulled back slightly, taking her face in his hands to get a better look at her. She was gasping and sobbing in starts, her face red and terribly tear stained. "You are awake now aren't you Kate?" he asked, just in case. He had never in his life seen anyone so incredibly distraught. She simply stared at him with such anxiety, unable to talk through her sobs. It was clear that she was awake though. "Okay," he began decisively, "move over."

"What?" she questioned breathlessly, struggling for breath over the tears.

He pulled the quilt back, swung his legs up onto the bed and nudged her across. "You need someone to hold you tonight Kate and bad luck, you got me," he said as, not leaving any room for argument, he put his arms around her and pulled her firmly to him, repositioning the quilt over them both. She lay stiffly in his arms, still shaking and coughing with the remains of her outburst of tears. She looked up at him with uncertainty but he simply put a hand on her head and moved it so that she was resting on his shoulder, her face against his collarbone. She felt suddenly warm and safe, cocooned by him, and it was far too irresistible for her to refuse that. He smelt as masculine as the arms and chest that were supporting and soothing her.

"Go to sleep now Kate," he coaxed, stroking her hair back with soft rhythmic movements. The sobs had now ceased but one rebellious tear escaped her eye then and rolled down her face, dropping onto the base of his neck.

"Castle," she said with a small voice.

"Yes kate," he responded.

"Is it all going to be all right?" she asked tearfully.

He moved so that he could tighten his arms even more snugly around her. "Yes, it is. I promise you Kate, it will all be okay," he replied with conviction.

She sighed then, apparently satisfied and suddenly exhausted as she nuzzled her cheek against the hollow of his neck. He in turn rested his cheek atop her head.

His arms were holding her so closely to him that she couldn't imagine anyone or anything separating them that night. She finally felt safe and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.


	10. Chapter 10: Mr Not So Floppy!

Beckett felt the warmth of the sun, which was streaming through the bedroom curtains, on her face and she knew that everything was going to be alright just like Castle had said: they had made it to morning. She felt a huge sense of contentment and relief. It was a new day, a wonderful day, and she'd never before been so glad to see sunshine.

Her gaze moved from the curtains above, to Castle's face so close to hers. Its features were somehow softer as he slept. Nevertheless, she thought it funny that even in his sleep he wore that characteristic expression of amusement: something in between playfulness and self satisfaction, as if he was enjoying the thought of something. Perhaps he was having an enjoyable dream. What on earth did Castle dream about she wondered? It had to have something to do with women!

For a few rare moments she was able to watch his face as he slept until her neck began to ache and she returned her head to its original resting place on Castle's chest. Castle's chest! What was she doing? She should have got out of the bed the moment she woke up for goodness sake, they were work colleagues! Never mind about that, _this was Castle! _She never slept in the same bed as him, she never rested her head on his chest, she never lay with him wearing little more than a shirt (his shirt for that matter!) and she sure as hell never wrapped her limbs around him so clearly and eagerly accepting his physical contact!

Still, there had been mitigating circumstances last night, and this morning, well, he was still asleep and she was so comfortable there, so exhausted after the trauma of the night before. If she moved now she would wake him and then there would be awkwardness forcing her to get out of the bed. Okay, so in her sleep she had clearly manoeuvred herself into rather a compromising position, she thought, glancing down at her leg wrapped over him and all too aware of the way that his shirt had ridden up her body, but she would move as soon as he woke and rest until then.

Just the slight movement of her head must have disturbed his sleep and for a minute, when he began to move, she thought that she wasn't going to get her few minutes of rest after all. However, Castle must have been in quite a deep sleep still because he simply moaned softly, turned his head on the pillow and moved one hand to her shoulder. She lay tensely for a moment, wondering if he was going to wake up fully but it soon became clear that he wasn't and so she relaxed against him again. Shortly afterwards she suddenly became aware of a faint ticking sound in her ear and her eyes flicked sideways to where he had moved his hand to see that the noise was coming from his wristwatch. It caught the sun and glinted at her: a chunky, silver, Cartier watch, probably worth a fortune. It was a stark reminder of the kind of man she was in bed with, a rich playboy novelist! That thought _should _have put her off. It should have yes… but not that morning because after the night before she couldn't help but feel closer to Castle and her instincts told her that he wasn't scheming, he had no ulterior motives to the things he did. He had been really kind to her last night and he didn't _have_ to, he _could_ have taken advantage of her weaknesses. She had been truly terrified and distraught but he had come through for her in every way. In fact, as she thought more about that something else occurred to her which, she was surprised to find, brought tears to her eyes: he'd always been there for her, even before they had ever met. His books had been a source of comfort to her when she'd needed comforting most. His words had reached out to her, his imagination, thoughts and visions had transmitted from him to her, carrying her away into another world which had taken the focus off her own troubled one. If someone had told her at that time in her life that at some point in her future she would have met, worked with and found herself in bed with the author himself, she'd have told them they were crazy! But there she was, in his luxury beach house, in his arms.

She slid her arm from his chest, placed it around his middle and nestled closer to him. He murmured in his sleep and moved his hand from her shoulder to slip it down slightly onto the top of her arm underneath the material of the shirt. She lay there feeling quite risqué with one shoulder exposed as he began to trace circles on the bare skin of her arm with his fingertips. Was he awake? She glanced up at him but he didn't seem to be; he was wearing the same amused expression that he'd been wearing since she'd woken up. His fingers continued to run patterns softly, teasingly over her arm and she began to tingle. Suddenly she was painfully aware of the fact that she had dispensed with her bra the night before when she had pulled on his shirt and now that her body was reacting to the movement of his fingers on her skin she felt even more risqué. It was a good job he was asleep because her chest was touching his with only the thin material of the shirt between them. Would that hide her arousal if he were to wake up suddenly? She wondered how she would feel if it didn't and he knew, he would surely try to seduce her further. She hoped so…no wait a minute, she didn't! What was she thinking? Well, okay so if he didn't then it would mean that she was not very desirable, that's not good! Okay so she did wish he would try to seduce her further. Oh boy, this thought process was confusing her!

Good Lord, none of this was going to happen anyway because she was going to move just as soon as he woke up! She contented herself with that thought and relaxed against him again. Then another thought popped into her head. What if he did try to seduce her and she didn't move? What if she didn't do anything at all to stop him? It was ridiculous of course because that would never happen, she would never allow it to, but what if… He'd start by unbuttoning the shirt very slowly, waiting to see if she would react or tell him to stop but she wouldn't. He'd have that look on his face of pure wickedness as he peeled away the shirt to expose her upper body to his greedy eyes. God, she really shouldn't be thinking of this! Then his hands would run all the way down her body, between her legs and…damn it, she wanted him to wake up and run his hands all over her naked body! No, no, of course she didn't…oh yes she damn well did! She groaned and wriggled against him in frustration, trying to find a position in which her treacherously aroused body would calm down!

"Hmmm," he moaned, opening one eye, "Keep doing that, it's very …stimulating," he grinned.

She froze guiltily and went cold with shock. It was silly really, he couldn't have read her mind for goodness sake. Still, she daren't look up at him for she was sure he'd be able to read something from the guilty look on her face.

"I was just becoming restless and thinking of getting up actually," she said as casually as she could manage.

"Hmm, restless," he echoed, "I noticed."

She could hear the amusement in his voice.

"The thing is," he went on, "I'm pretty 'restless' in the morning too and since I woke up to find you in bed with me I'm… well…exceptionally 'restless' this morning!"

Hmm, he seems to have misunderstood the meaning of the word 'restless.' She looked up at him, feigning confusion.

He whispered his explanation to her. "I've got a problem here that I'm guessing Mr Floppy over there never gets," he grinned.

Her eyes widened and she coughed awkwardly. "Yes, well, I think we should get up now."

She went to move away from him but he stopped her by scooping an arm around her middle and pulling her back to him.

"C'mon, we're both adults here and I'm certain you've experienced this before. Let's relax a few minutes more before we get up eh," he coaxed. She looked uncertain. "Just don't wriggle so much," he teased. "And I'll try not to turn you on too much either," he added cheekily.

"Don't worry," she answered primly, "there's no chance of that happening."

He cocked an eyebrow and studied her closely for a moment, making her feel slightly nervous. "Really? Well you're looking terribly flushed and flustered this morning Kate. I wonder why that is?"

She frowned. "It's hot," she replied.

"Hmm," he didn't seem at all convinced. "And I just _know,"_ he emphasised, "that when you do that, you're having the naughtiest of thoughts," he said, touching her bottom lip where she had been biting it.

Ooops, she was on shaky ground; she had to at least even things out. She put a hand on his chest and pushed him back.

"Sorry, I seem to have forgotten the part in the story when the big brown bear got into bed with, and tried to seduce, the princess. When did that part happen?" she challenged.

"Ah, that's a slightly different story: the X rated version!" he grinned, letting out a big bear growl as he slipped both of his hands up her naked back to hold her whilst sliding down the bed and kissing his way down the front of the shirt as he did so. She laughed loudly at his sudden onslaught, the way his lips were teasing her and the silly bear noises he was making. "Oooooh, I like this bit," he said, as his head disappeared further down the front of the shirt, past the first couple of buttons which he'd somehow managed to undo with his teeth. It was a little hard to see much down there but his lips had found a really nice soft fleshy part of her. Then with realisation of this, everything abruptly changed. She was so soft and he began to burn for her. He wanted more, needed more. God, his mind and body were suddenly on overdrive! He began to run his tongue frantically over her skin, desperate to find a spot so sensitive that he'd evoke a reaction in her to meet his own. He wanted her to cry out. He knew that she must be enjoying this or else she would have stopped him way before now.

Kate felt his tongue on the underside of her breast and suddenly her whole body flooded with heat. Oh this was dangerous, very dangerous!

"Castle," she said breathlessly but with a warning in her voice. He was far to engrossed to register that. "Castle," she said louder.

"Mmm?" he murmured, feathering his hands up and down her back as he pressed tiny kisses to her skin.

She inhaled deeply and bit down on her lip unable to stop her back from arching as he found yet another sensitive part of her.

"Oooh, you like that!" he observed, paying special attention to his fingers which were tracing her spine. She could feel him smiling against the skin that his lips had refused to move from.

He was having a field day, breaking down her resolve way too quickly. She _had _to call a halt to this.

"Castle!" she shouted sharply and loudly. He sat up suddenly in shock.

"What's up? What did I do?"

She might have shouted a bit too loudly. She sighed and struggled to a sitting position too, readjusting the collar of the shirt.

"Nothing…well, you were getting a bit…" She ran a hand through her hair; this was awkward! "… we work together remember," she finished as if that were explanation enough.

He took in a deep breath and slumped back against the bed. "Yeah, sorry." He looked sideways at her. "it's just that… well, I thought…that is, you were…" Damn it, why had he suddenly lost the power of speech? "Oh, never mind," he finished.

She suddenly regretted stopping him, or at least stopping him so harshly. But she'd tried to before and he wasn't listening and if she hadn't stopped him when she had…who knows how far things would have gone. She was confused about how she felt and certainly not ready for things to progress that quickly. Still, she wanted the playful, light hearted atmosphere between them back again.

"The X rated version is a bit too X rated…for the time being," she added bravely. Wow! What had she just inadvertently admitted to him and herself? But she had said it in a joking way; maybe he hadn't realised the implication or taken it seriously. The comment had however done the trick because he was suddenly smiling again and looking extremely pleased about something. "Anyway," she went on, "I really think we should get out of bed now," she said, pulling the quilt back to climb out but changing her mind when she felt him watching her and she remembered how his shirt didn't exactly cover all that it needed to! "On second thoughts," she said, covering herself with the quilt again and pushing him sideways out of the bed, "you get out first."

His feet hit the floor and he stumbled slightly before lunging for the bed and grabbing Mr Floppy in panic. He stood then in front of her, holding Mr Floppy in front of himself to retain his dignity.

"Would you give me some warning before you do something like that?" he laughed.

She slid down the bed and giggled. He looked so funny.

"Right, I'm gonna go get a shower. Then we can figure out what we're gonna do with today," he smiled.

"Okay," she responded, still feeling the laughter bubbling up inside her. It must have been infectious because he began to chuckle too. Then a mischievous mood hit her and, as he turned to go, she called out,

"Wait! You can't do that!"

He swung back around. That was the second time that morning she'd frightened the life out of him!

"What?" he asked.

She reached out towards him and to his surprise, whipped Mr Floppy out of his hands!

"Do that to Mr Floppy," she said, stroking the bunny's head. "Poor Mr Floppy, you'll scar him emotionally for life!"

For a second Castle simply stared at her open mouthed before suddenly realising that he was exposed and quickly covering himself with his hands.

His mouth twitched with a smile. "You're kiddin' right?"

She shook her head seriously, well trying her hardest not to laugh anyway. "No Castle. Mr Floppy is very sensitive about these things."

Castle began to laugh. "But Kate sweetheart, he's not real!"

Kate found her next comment very hard to get out without laughing. "How do you know?"

Castle threw his head back and laughed in earnest at the ridiculousness of the situation.

"Because…" why was he attempting to answer that question? "Because…" he bent forward and laughed so much he had to hold his aching stomach. Then he laughed more because to hold his stomach he had to move his hands which were upholding his modesty! Kate was laughing too now, so much so that her eyes were filling with tears. "Because he's just filled with fluff!" he managed to get out.

Kate tried to look shocked but burst into hysterics to match his. "Cover your ears Mr Floppy." She laughed as she put her hands over the bunny's ears. "Do you realise…" she began, fighting for breath in between laughs, "do you realize that Mr Floppy has big issues with self esteem and you come along and do that," she pointed to where Castle had held Mr Floppy against himself. Both of them were now in fits of giggles.

"C'mon Kate," Castle managed to say, still in hysterics. He moved to hide the bottom part of his body behind the end of the bunk beds. "Hand over the bunny so I can get outta here!"

She shook her head. "Are you kiding? Don't worry Mr Floppy, you're safe with me," she said to the bunny, beginning to get the giggles yet again at the sight of him hiding at the end of the beds.

He grinned as he shook his head at her with disbelief. Then he turned and scanned the room for a solution to his dilema. He spotted a shelving unit behind him with a row of stuffed toy animals on it.

"Don't even think about it Mr!" Kate cut into his thoughts.

He laughed and threw up his hands in surrender. "Okay, you win," he said, making a run for the door and disappearing with a burst of laughter.

"Cover your eyes Mr Floppy," she shouted out as he passed.

She cuddled Mr Floppy and giggled to herself. Seconds later though the bedroom door opened again and he popped his head around the door.

"Oh and by the way, I've been awake for hours and your naughty thoughts were as obvious as my Mr Not So Floppy!"

She gasped with shock and picked up a pillow to throw at him. It hit the door as he disappeared once more behind it. She reached out for the second pillow as she slid down the bed, groaning and giggling with embarrassement whilst pulling the pillow over her face to hid it.


End file.
